HM Treasury

Public Sector Debt: UN Resolutions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the UK is taking to engage in discussions at the UN on establishing a legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is actively engaged, in ongoing discussions on reform of the process for sovereign debt restructuring in international forums. As outlined in the joint-EU Explanation of Vote, the Government did not support UN General Assembly Resolution A/68/L.57/Rev.1, which mandated the UN to consider this matter, owing to concerns over the lack of time afforded to members to discuss the complex issues it raised.

Personal Income

Martin Horwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of income inequality on national wellbeing.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has not made an assessment of the effect of income inequality on national wellbeing. However, income inequality remains lower than when this Government came into office.   The Office for National Statistics estimates that individuals in households with higher incomes report higher life satisfaction and happiness, and lower anxiety. Wellbeing increases fastest in relation to increases income for those on the lowest level of income, and receiving a greater proportion of income from cash benefits is associated with lower wellbeing. The Government’s economic plan is focused on creating jobs and making work pay, while reducing reliance on benefits.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the merits of introducing fiscal incentives to more widespread use of LED lighting.

Priti Patel: There are already fiscal incentives for LED lighting. An Enhanced Capital Allowance is available for white light emitting diode (LED) lighting units. This Enhanced Capital Allowance lets businesses claim 100% first year relief on investments in certain energy-saving equipment. More information on product eligibility for an Enhanced Capital Allowance can be found on the Energy Technology Criteria List 2014 at:   https://etl.decc.gov.uk/etl/site/criteria.html.   In addition, the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme is designed to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions in large public and private sector organisations. The scheme provides a fiscal incentive to install energy-saving measures such as LED lighting.   The government has a long term commitment to reducing the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) 2012 Energy Efficiency Strategy highlighted the importance of increasing energy efficiency to achieve the Government’s climate change goals, in addition to helping people and business manage their energy bills. The Chancellor keeps all tax policy under review.

National Insurance Contributions

Mr David Ruffley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have (a) claimed and (b) been successfully awarded employment allowance in (i) Bury St Edmunds, (ii) Suffolk, (iii) the East of England and (iv) England and Wales.

Mr David Gauke: A statistical release covering take-up of the Employment Allowance, including regional and constituency data, is already scheduled for publication on the 7th November.   The release will cover take-up for the first six months of 2014-15. The scheme as a whole has enjoyed good take-up so far. A press release from July 2014 announced that by the end of June around 725,000 businesses and charities; including around 72,000 in the East of England, around 616,000 in England, and around 30,000 in Wales had benefitted from the allowance.   This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to reducing the costs of employment for small businesses across the UK.

Minimum Wage

Jessica Morden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2014, to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury to Question 197359, if he will make it his policy that HM Revenue and Customs collects statistics at a regional level for the purposes of completed inspections and non-compliance.

Mr David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, HMRC undertake targeted enforcement on employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying NMW. HMRC does not keep statistics at a regional level. Many employers' registered trading addresses differ from where they undertake business. Larger employers may be registered under one address but have outlets across the country.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent research the Electoral Commission has conducted into the reasons why individuals who are (a) entitled to vote do not register and (b) on the electoral register do not vote.

Mr Gary Streeter: The Commission informs me that its reports on the accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers set out possible reasons why people may fail to register to vote. These reports are available on the Commission’s website. The Commission also conducts public opinion research after each set of elections that asks non-voters why they did not vote at the recent election. The results from these polls are also available on the Commission’s website.

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what steps the Electoral Commission is taking to increase the take-up of postal votes.

Mr Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission does not set out to increase the take-up of postal voting and instead provides information to help people participate with confidence in elections and referendums by whatever method they find most convenient. This includes ensuring people understand the range of options available to them to cast their vote, including by post, proxy and at a polling station. The Commission’s guidance to Electoral Registration Officers sets out that they should ensure people are made aware of the different ways they can cast their vote so they are able to choose the option that is most appropriate to their circumstances. Information on different options for how to cast a ballot is also provided on the Commission’s website, via media releases, social media channels, and through the public information phone line.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects Jobcentre Plus to deploy an IT solution for the calculation of universal credit for those other than single people; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: Holding answer received on 03 November 2014



 Universal Credit has been available online for new claims from Single people from April 2013, has been available to Couples from June 2014 and will be available to Families by the end of the year.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many front line job centre advisers took part in user acceptance testing of the IT systems developed to facilitate the delivery of universal credit pathfinders.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many front line job centre advisers will take part in user acceptance testing of the IT systems developed to facilitate the delivery of universal credit.

Mr Mark Harper: Holding answer received on 03 November 2014



DWP has well developed processes for testing IT systems prior to roll out. This encompasses a range of testing phases, which includes user and business testing cycles. Testing is done through a range of expert practitioners who have experience in managing and delivering DWP business. UC IT systems used these testing methodologies to ensure expert practitioners and staff including front line work coaches were a key part of test cycles. The number of front line work coaches involved at each stage of testing varies and as such we are unable to give an exact figure.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: DWP outsourced the ownership and management of its estate, including related facilities management to our accommodation partners Telereal Trillium (TT) as part of a 20 year PFI contract, known as PRIME. Under this PFI arrangement DWP leases back fully serviced accommodation and as such when lighting is due for renewal the choice of replacement is made by TT’s technical experts rather than DWP. TT normal practice, when replacing lighting is to renew with highly energy efficient fluorescent lighting.  The widespread use of this energy efficient fluorescent lighting combined with the high cost of fitting LED lights means a widespread programme of fitting LED lights is not considered cost effective by TT and DWP.   Although a small number of LED lights are fitted at some sites, it is not possible to estimate the proportion as TT do not maintain central records of individual light fittings.

Work Capability Assessment

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many incapacity benefit claimants died during or after their work capability assessment in each of the last two years.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The Department does monitor requests we receive for new statistics and consider whether we can produce and release analysis that will helpfully inform public debate. The Department is therefore looking at this issue with a view to seeing what statistics could be produced on a regular basis.

Social Security Benefits

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individual cases of customer overpayment debt there have been in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk, (c) the East of England and (d) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and what the total monetary value was of customer overpayment debts in this period.

Mr Mark Harper: Official statistics for customer overpayment debt are not readily available and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Pension Credit

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of eligible pensioners that do not receive pension credit.

Steve Webb: The most recent estimates of take-up can be found in the Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-up report which provides caseload and expenditure estimates of take-up for Pension Credit in Great Britain for the financial year 2009-10. The figures are available online and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up--2 Experimental estimates of take-up of income-related benefits based on an improved methodology for Great Britain are provisionally due to be published in January to February 2015.

Personal Independence Payment

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is that a personal independence payment claim takes (a) to receive an appointment for assessment, (b) for the report to be completed by the provider after the date of the assessment, (c) for his Department to receive a report from the provider and (d) for his Department to make a decision from the date they received the provider's report.

Mr Mark Harper: Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of Personal Independence Payment performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.

Personal Independence Payment

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average length of time is taken between Personal Independence Payment claim from claimants in (a) Wales and (b) the UK receiving a decision from his Department from the date that the claim is first received.

Mr Mark Harper: Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of personal independence payment performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.

Budgeting Loans

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications made for Budgeting Loan have been made in each year since 2010; and how many such applications were rejected.

Steve Webb: Table 1 provides the number of Budgeting Loan applications received by DWP and the number of refusals made in Great Britain between 2010 and 2013. Table 1: Budgeting Loan applications and refusals by calendar year from 2010 to 2013YearApplications ReceivedRefusals20101,616,900427,50020111,568,300418,70020121,604,800395,70020131,412,800341,100  Notes1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. The difference between applications received and refusals will not equal the total number of awards made; some applications may have been withdrawn before a decision was made or the decision may not have been made at the time the count was taken. 3. These figures are not the same as the number of individuals making Budgeting Loan applications or being refused a Budgeting Loan in each year. An individual may make multiple applications in any given period. 4. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Disability Living Allowance: Northern Ireland

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants there are of higher rate disability living allowance in Northern Ireland.

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on disabled people of the Government's welfare reform policy in Northern Ireland.

Mr Mark Harper: These are devolved matters which are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive Minister for Social Development.   Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Social Fund

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was made available through the Social Fund in each year since 2010.

Steve Webb: The Social Fund is comprised of two elements, The Regulated Social Fund and The Discretionary Social Fund. The Regulated Social Fund includes Sure Start Maternity Grants* Funeral Payments, Cold Weather Payments and Winter Fuel Payments. The Discretionary Social Fund is made up of Community Care Grants**, Crisis Loans** and Budgeting Loans.  YearCombined Social Fund PaymentsAdditional Winter Fuel Payments2010/11£1.4 Billion£2.7 Billion2011/12£940 Million*£2.1 Billion2012/13£924 Million£2.1 Billion2013/14£498 Million **£2.1 Billion* Sure Start Maternity Grants (SSMG) were restricted from 11 April 2011 so that a SSMG would not be paid if there is another child aged under 16 in the family at the time of the claim, unless the other child under 16 is dependant on the claimant or their partner and it is their baby that is the subject of the claim in question, or it is the other child in a multiple birth.** Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants were abolished from 1st April 2013 with funding transferred to Local Authorities in England and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales to provide new local support.

Employment: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what way his Department participates in the Two Ticks Positive About Disabled People scheme.

Mr Mark Harper: DWP administers the Disability Symbol (Two Ticks Positive About Disabled People Scheme) via the network of Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) located in Jobcentre Plus. DWP is itself a Two Ticks employer. There are currently around 3,000 employers signed up to the scheme.

Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in the number of people being injured or made ill at work; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: The latest figures were only released at the end of October and it is too early to make a firm assessment of the latest trends.

Personal Independence Payment

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) moved to and (b) not yet moved to the personal independence payment from the disability living allowance.

Mr Mark Harper: All Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants aged 16 to 65 on 8 April 2013, and those that reach age 16 after that date, will be invited to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under a programme of natural and managed reassessment. Previous forecasts, published in December 2012 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180964/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf), estimate that around 1.75 million DLA claimants will be invited to claim PIP.   Information on the number of existing DLA claimants who have been reassessed for and awarded PIP has been published and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm.

Welsh Language

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the need to provide access to his Department's services in Welsh.

Steve Webb: This Government is fully committed to the Welsh language and fully committed to providing Government services in the Welsh language where there is demand for them. The Department for Work and Pensions has a Welsh Language Scheme which was approved by the former Welsh Language Board on 25th March 2010. The Department has a dedicated Welsh Language Unit to oversee the requirements of the scheme. The scheme is kept under constant review and the Department has reported annually each June to the Welsh Language Commissioner on progress against its objectives when delivering services in Wales.

Home Office

Offences against Children: Databases

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times digitally stored photographs seized by police forces in England and Wales investigating online child abuse were checked against the National Hash Set Database electronic database of known abuse images in each of the last four years; and how many times that database was used by each police force in England and Wales in that time.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 03 November 2014



This information on the use of the National Hash Set Database is not held centrally, as police forces keep their own records. We are developing the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) as the national capability for collecting, assessing, and storing indecent images of children (IIOC) for law enforcement agencies. The CAID will record the use made of it by forces.

Offences against Children: Databases

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2014, to Question 211467, what capability has existed for police forces to electronically match seized child abuse images against known such images seized (a) in the UK and (b) by Interpol partners in the period since the Childbase image database was disbanded in 2011; and what technological process is required in order to produce such a match.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 03 November 2014



The interim National Hash Set Database provides the capability for police forces to electronically match indecent images of children against those already in the Database. The Database was compiled from images provided by police forces. The process itself uses commonly available computer forensics tools.

Human Trafficking

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the National Referral Mechanism review team is taking to consider best practice from other EU member states.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



In order to inform the review of the National Referral Mechanism the team has consulted with EU States through the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees. The review lead, Jeremy Oppenheim has also met with Danish colleagues to discuss their approach. The review team has visited 10 of the contracted service providers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. At each visit the team has taken the opportunity to meet victims and discuss their experiences. In addition the team has consulted other organisations that work closely with victims and provide additional services. A full list of those who have been consulted will be included in the final report to be published shortly.

Human Trafficking

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) victims of trafficking and (b) victim direct service providers have been consulted during the review of the National Referral Mechanism for victims of human trafficking.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



In order to inform the review of the National Referral Mechanism the team has consulted with EU States through the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees. The review lead, Jeremy Oppenheim has also met with Danish colleagues to discuss their approach. The review team has visited 10 of the contracted service providers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. At each visit the team has taken the opportunity to meet victims and discuss their experiences. In addition the team has consulted other organisations that work closely with victims and provide additional services. A full list of those who have been consulted will be included in the final report to be published shortly.

Sick Leave

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many days have been lost to long-term sick leave (a) in total and (b) for reasons related to mental health in each police force in each of the last three years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mobile Phones

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on iPhones in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office does hold the information that you requested. However, after careful consideration we have decided not to disclose the information as we have a contractual obligation to treat the costs as confidential.

Arrest Warrants

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK has given the notification described in Article 28(1) of EU Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European Arrest Warrant.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hassan Haydari

Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when Hassan Haydari, previously detained at HMP Bullingdon, was deported.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arrest Warrants

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many British nationals were extradited from the UK to each other state party to the European Convention on Extradition under that Convention in each of the last five years; what allegations or offences each such person was extradited for; whether each such person was convicted of the extradition offence; if they were extradited for prosecution; and what sentences were imposed upon each.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arrest Warrants

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) British nationals and (b) other persons were extradited from the UK under a European Arrest Warrant for conduct that took place in whole or part within the UK but was not a crime under the law of the relevant part of the UK in each of the last five years; and under which provisions of sections 64 or 65 of the Extradition Act 2003 prior to its amendment by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 such extraditions took place.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arrest Warrants

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is permissible for the UK under (a) the European Convention on Extradition and (b) that Convention's additional Protocols that have been ratified by the UK to require satisfactory prima facie evidence of an alleged offence before extraditing a person for that offence.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arrest Warrants

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of extraditions of (a) British nationals and (b) other persons sought from the UK under the European Convention on Extradition and its additional Protocols were blocked for reason of incompatibility with Convention rights in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Public Appointments

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions her Department has made appointments by exception since 2010; and who was appointed for each such post.

Karen Bradley: The table below sets out the number of appointments in the Home Department at all grades made by exception to the Civil Service Recruitment Principles for the full financial years since 2009/10. The increase in the number of exceptions used by the Department in 2013-14 reflects temporary appointments made to meet seasonal workforce demands in Border Force.We do not hold centrally the names of those appointed to each post, and providing would incur a disproportionate cost.  Financial YearNumber of exceptions2009-20101282010-20111622011-2012592012-20131632013-2014366

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Freedom of Information requests her Department has declined to answer in full since 2010.

Karen Bradley: The Ministry of Justice publishes annual statistical reports on the handling of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for central government. These reports include statistics on the numbers of requests granted in full and those where information was partially or fully withheld. These reports can be accessed on the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

Crime: Disclosure of Information

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress she has made on implementing the commitment in paragraph 6.44 of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, published in October 2013, to review the financial incentives provided to support whistle blowers in cases of fraud, bribery and corruption.

Karen Bradley: The Government is committed to supporting those who report cases of fraud, bribery and corruption. Earlier this year, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills issued the Government’s response to a call for evidence on the whistleblowing framework, setting out how it will be strengthened to support whisteblowers; and the National Crime Agency was recently added to the list of prescribed persons to whom whistleblowers can make a disclosure and be protected under employment legislation. There have been a number of recent reports evaluating the case for financial incentives and the Government continues to consider what more can be done to support whistleblowers in cases of bribery and corruption.

Exclusion Orders: Russia

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the 18 people affected by the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, named by the US administration in April 2013, are banned from entering the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Corruption

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will publish the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan, announced by the Prime Minister at the Open Government Partnership Summit in October 2013.

Karen Bradley: The Government will publish the UK Anti-Corruption Plan later this year.

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on legal fees over prevention of release of information requested by Freedom of Information requests since 2010.

Karen Bradley: Legal costs in relation to FOI cannot be provided as they are not recorded separately.

Crime: Shipping

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bermuda government and the Hampshire Constabulary, signed in October 2013, relating to the framework for police co-operation on the investigation of serious crimes on board Bermudan-registered ships.

Mike Penning: I will place a redacted copy of the requested Memorandum of Understanding between Hampshire Constabulary and the Bermuda Police Service, in the House Library shortly.

Miscarriages of Justice

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her written statement of 26 June 2014, Official Report, column 35W, on potential miscarriages of justice, whether Mark Ellison QC will be given access to the confidential annex drawn up by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the reasons for which it referred the conviction of John Jordan for assaulting a police officer to the Crown Court.

Mike Penning: The Home Secretary made clear in her statement to the House on 6 March that "Mark Ellison and the CPS will be provided with whatever access they judge necessary to relevant documentary evidence".

Police: Training

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officer recruits in (a) Suffolk and (b) England and Wales began residential training in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: This information is not held centrally by the Home Office. Decisions about the numbers of police officer recruits who undertake residential training are a matter for the local police force.

Department of Health

Mental Health

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much and what proportion of the public health budget in (a) Hackney local authority area, (b) London and (c) England is spent on mental health.

Jane Ellison: This information is not held centrally.

Abortion

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on RU486 in each year since January 2011.

George Freeman: Information on the net ingredient cost of mifepristone (RU486) used in National Health Service secondary care in England is shown in the table. This may include use in private wards in NHS hospitals and excludes use in military or private hospitals. Mifepristone is not used in primary care.   Net ingredient cost of mifepristone in secondary care, England YearNet ingredient cost  £000s20131,107.820121,113.620111,153.4 Source: Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index (HPAI) provided by IMS Health

Mental Health

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase spending on mental health; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Department and NHS England continue to work together to ensure that there are consistent messages to commissioners and providers about the importance of delivering parity of esteem for people with mental health needs.   In our new five-year plan for mental health, Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, we identified £40 million additional spending this year and freed up a further £80 million for 2015-16. This will, for the first time ever, enable the setting of access and waiting time standards in mental health services.   Monitor and NHS England are responsible for setting the national tariff arrangements and are working together to develop a national payment system for mental health which promotes early intervention, access to effective evidence-based care, improved outcomes and recovery.   The national tariff arrangements for 2015-16 will include examples of new and innovative payment models which local commissioners and providers may choose to adopt next year.   Funding for mental health has increased by £120 million in 2014-15 seeing it rise from £8.5 billion in 2013-14 to £8.62 billion in 2014-15. These figures do not include spending on mental health in primary care or prescriptions which is estimated at £3 billion.

Health Hazards: Radon Gas

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what studies have been commissioned by (a) his Department and (b) non-departmental public bodies which report to his Department on the potential health effects of radon concentrations found in shale gas obtained from hydraulic fracturing in the UK.

Jane Ellison: PHE has reviewed the potential public health impact of direct emissions of chemicals and radioactive material from the extraction of shale gas. The report can be found on the following website:   https://www.gov.uk/government/news/review-of-potential-public-health-impacts-from-shale-gas-extraction   Risks associated with occupational and residential exposure to radon have been investigated in detail. A review ‘Radon and Public Health’ was produced by the Advisory Group on Ionising Radiation in 2009 and can be found on the following website:   http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140722091854/http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1243838496865

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Currently the Department’s buildings have around 5% LED light fittings installed and as areas are refurbished we look at opportunities to utilise LEDs, especially in areas which are difficult to access. This reduces maintenance costs and energy usage in areas with long operational hours such as corridors and staircases.

NHS: Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue guidance to all NHS organisations that they should implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting in all NHS premises.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department is planning to issue a new version of Health Technical Memorandum 07-02:EnCO2de – making energy work in healthcare by March 2015. This will include best practice guidance on the appropriate use of LED lighting drawn from the findings of National Health Service projects that have completed this year, using the Department’s £50 million NHS Energy Efficiency Fund.

Prostate Cancer

Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to increase awareness and early diagnosis of prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Government is investing £450 million to achieve early diagnosis of cancer through better public awareness, better screening and better access to key diagnostic tests.   Public Health England is currently running a local pilot campaign specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, because of their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The campaign is running in six London boroughs – Hackney, Haringey, Newham, Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham – and is mainly being delivered through face to face activity, supported by posters in key outdoor locations and in salons and a programme of targeted consumer engagement. The key message of the campaign is “1 in 4 black men will get prostate cancer. Prostate cancer often has no obvious symptoms. If you are a black man over 45 and want to discuss your personal risk of prostate cancer, visit your doctor”.

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department will publish guidance on the timeline for a successor to the National Dementia Strategy for England and the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department expects to announce the timetable for developing a successor strategy to the National Dementia Strategy for England and the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia.

Norman Lamb: The Department has established a new time-limited Stakeholder Advisory Group to help inform the next phase of work on dementia, post the current Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, which superseded the National Dementia Strategy and which is due to end in March 2015.   The Advisory Group is providing advice to help inform the Department’s work to shape the future direction of domestic dementia policy to 2020. The group met for the first time on 17 October to discuss their draft terms of reference for the proposed work programme and timeline.   Once finalised the terms of reference for the group and other details including the envisaged timeline for the work will be published on the Department of Health’s Prime Ministers Challenge website.

Pneumococcal Disease

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) mean and (b) median length of hospital stay was for a person diagnosed with (i) pneumococcal disease and (ii) pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia (A) in total, (B) for people aged 65 and over and (C) adults aged under the age of 65, as recorded by the hospital episodes statistics database in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many bed days were taken by people diagnosed with (a) pneumococcal disease and (b) pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia (i) in total and (ii) in each age group, as recorded by the hospital episodes statistics database in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The information is attached.



Length of hospital stay and bed days
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.3 KB)

Pneumonia

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged (a) 0 to five, (b) six to 15, (c) 16 to 64 and (d) 65 and over contracted pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia in each (i) NHS England local area team area and (ii) clinical commissioning group area in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: There is currently no reliable data on the numbers of people who have contracted pneumococcal community acquired pneumonia. Data on cases of community acquired pneumonia who were managed in the community are not recorded.

Pneumococcal Disease

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged (a) 0 to five, (b) six to 15, (c) 16 to 64 and (d) 65 and over contracted invasive pneumococcal disease in each (i) NHS England local area team area and (ii) clinical commissioning group area in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: Historic data is not available at local area team or clinical commissioning group level, and is therefore supplied at NHS regional level using the 2006 configurations.   2008-09 Current region name0-5 years6-15 years16-64 years65 years and overEast Midlands275179178East4010182221London7924320241North East337115132North West8215376403South East7423345324South West6617253282West Midlands5313259309Wales383150150Yorkshire and Humber6119297317   2009-10 Current region name0-5 years6-15 years16-64 years65 years and overEast Midlands3810187159East5413192211London8128327222North East349108116North West6823368380South East6926305305South West5210208265West Midlands5114227226Wales199137147Yorkshire and Humber8614296309   2010- 11 Current region name0-5 years6-15 years16-64 years65 years and overEast Midlands2115158198East4513197200London7720320221North East3012101130North West6316399335South East5622302324South West4615254276West Midlands5212230222Wales2312171161Yorkshire and Humber9022313269   2011-12 Current region name0-5 years6-15 years16-64 years65 years and overEast Midlands307143176East255164195London6515289209North East13396107North West6118269317South East5214265335South West3510181222West Midlands308182190Wales196116145Yorkshire and Humber5315195267   2012-13 Current region name0-5 years6-15 years16-64 years65 years and overEast Midlands94132144East299162199London5716252254North East12392117North West338299358South East4116273323South West2212172208West Midlands178181219Wales125147139Yorkshire and Humber4211229256

Pneumococcal Disease

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of (a) invasive pneumococcal disease and (b) pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia were diagnosed in each (i) NHS England local area team area and (ii) clinical commissioning group area in the last 12 months; and how many such cases involved people aged (A) under and (B) over 65.

Jane Ellison: Enhanced surveillance data on invasive pneumococcal disease for epidemiological year 2013-14 will not be available until the end of 2014 as the analysis and collation of data is conducted after the end of the relevant period to allow for reporting delays and follow of cases to obtain additional information. Data for the most recent available year (2012-13) is shown in the following table: Current region name0-5 years6-15 years16-64 years65 years and overEast Midlands94132144East299162199London5716252254North East12392117North West338299358South East4116273323South West2212172208West Midlands178181219Wales125147139Yorkshire & Humber4211229256

Maternity Services

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy that women who have just given birth in hospital are not sent home between 11pm and 8am.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not draft policy or provide advice on specific limits on postnatal discharge periods, or the times that women can be discharged from hospital. The length of stay or discharge time in a maternity unit following delivery of a baby is a matter for the clinical judgement of the healthcare professionals involved in the mother’s care. This decision should be reached following discussion with the mother and take into account the health and well-being of the woman and her baby and the level of support available to her following discharge. This is in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on ‘Routine postnatal care of women and their babies’, published in 2006:   http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG37/Guidance/pdf/English

Mental Health Services: Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the new waiting time standards for adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) apply to children and adolescents' IAPT.

Norman Lamb: Holding answer received on 04 November 2014



The new waiting time standard for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme does not apply to services working with the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) programme. The CYP IAPT programme is a service transformation programme working with existing child and adolescent mental health services. It does not create separate standalone services for depression and anxiety as is the case with adult IAPT. It works with existing child and adolescent mental health services across the National Health Service, local authority and voluntary sectors to support improved access to evidence based, outcome focussed client led services. The waiting time and access standard for child and adolescent mental health services will be developed in the future. It is not possible to put a waiting and access standard in place nationally at this stage due to the lack of centrally collected data.   Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 contains the first waiting time standards for mental health.   It announces the introduction of improved investment in specialist intensive psychiatric mental health facilities for children and young people to reduce waiting times for intensive psychiatric care and to end the practice of young people being admitted to mental health beds far away from where they live or from being inappropriately admitted to adult wards. It announces the introduction of standard waiting times for Early Intervention in Psychosis services which will be of benefit to young people, and for the adult IAPT programme. It makes it clear that the waiting time standards announced are a first step. There will also be £30 million increased investment in liaison psychiatry to help people including young people presenting in accident and emergency departments with mental health problems. The vision is for comprehensive standards to be developed over the coming years for all ages, including for children and young people. However, where adult IAPT services are commissioned to provide a service to 16 and 17 year olds, the waiting time standard will apply to all those attending the service, regardless of their age.   The Department and NHS England will work together with mental health system partners to set out how and when access and further waiting time standards could be introduced, subject to resourcing decisions following the next Spending Review, including consideration of key priorities such as eating disorders and perinatal mental health services.

NHS: Insurance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the insurance industry on cover for NHS buildings in the last three years.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of NHS trusts which do not have adequate buildings insurance.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS trusts do not have buildings insurance cover in excess of £5 million.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS trusts do not have buildings insurance cover in excess of £1 million.

Dr Daniel Poulter: All National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England are members of the NHS Litigation Authority’s Property Expenses Scheme (PES). PES covers losses for material damage to buildings and contents from a variety of causes, including fire, theft and water damage, valued at up to £1 million per claim.   There is a general prohibition on NHS trusts entering into insurance arrangements with commercial insurers therefore they will normally self-insure any losses above the £1 million limit.   NHS foundation trusts may enter into insurance arrangements with commercial insurers for any risks not covered by the scheme, and will consider whether to do so in accordance with their individual standing financial instructions.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the benefits to the NHS of a preventative public health approach to musculoskeletal conditions.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has limited data on the prevalence of all musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in England. However, Arthritis Research UK (AR-UK) in collaboration with PHE have developed a prevalence calculator that will provide estimates of the prevalence of the commonest groupings of MSK disease when it is launched later this year. PHE has contributed to local authority based briefings which AR-UK aim to publish shortly. We know from the Global Burden of disease that in 2010 MSK was a major cause of years lived with disability in the United Kingdom. This was estimated at 30.5% (range 25.5—35.7%)   Hip and knee replacement surgery is common and MSK conditions are common in primary care so there is a significant direct cost to the National Health Service. However, there is no modelling that shows what the impact of different preventative approaches might have on MSK although we know that obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol are modifiable risk factors that contribute to the risk of specific MSK conditions.   PHE is playing its role through work across the life course to promote the healthy behaviours which reduce the risk of MSK through increasing physical activity, reducing obesity, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption in the population.

Alcoholic Drinks: Rehabilitation

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on the effectiveness of alcohol addiction treatment facilities.

Jane Ellison: There have been no recent ministerial discussions with counterparts in the devolved administrations on the effectiveness of alcohol addiction treatment facilities. The Department’s officials have regular contact with their counterparts on all aspects of preventing and treating alcohol–related harms.

Abortion

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many abortions have been carried out on patients who are over 24 weeks pregnant since January 2014.

Jane Ellison: Abortion statistics for 2014 are not available. The latest abortion statistics were published in June 2014 and provide data up to and including 2013; a copy is attached.   



Abortion Statistics: 2013
(PDF Document, 1.21 MB)

Health Services: Learning Disability

Mr Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many deaths of people with a learning disability there have been in (a) assessment and treatment units and (b) other inpatient units in the last five years.

Norman Lamb: Information about deaths of people with a learning disability in assessment and treatment units is not collected centrally by the Department, NHS England or the Care Quality Commission.   The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects hospital episode statistics data. These data identify the number of hospital episodes where a patient had a primary or secondary diagnosis of a learning disability where the patient died.   From 2008-09 to 2012-2013 there were a total of 817 deaths for admitted patients at all hospitals in England. This number includes all deaths from all causes while a hospital patient.   The breakdown for each of the last five years is in the following table.   YearNumber of deaths2008-091232009-101682010-111622011-121722012-13192Total817 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre   These data are not available by individual departments or units within hospitals. They also do not represent the deaths of people with learning disabilities where learning disability is not recorded as a primary or secondary diagnosis.   NHS England is setting up a National Learning Disability Mortality Review to better understand what causes people who have a learning disability to die, on average, at a younger age than other people; and to learn from what has happened to ensure that NHS services improve the way they care for people with a learning disability.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of physical activity in reducing the prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions.

Jane Ellison: In 2011, the four UK Chief Medical Officers jointly produced guidelines outlining the recommended levels of physical activity. The evidence led to the recommendations that children, young people and adults including older adults, should incorporate activities to strengthen muscle and bone, as this may help with the prevention of some musculoskeletal conditions.

Measles

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prevent an upsurge in measles; and what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on that issue.

Jane Ellison: In April 2013, following an increase in the number of identified cases of measles in the United Kingdom, the Department, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England launched a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) catch-up programme, aiming to ensure 95% of all 10-16 year olds had received at least one dose of MMR vaccine by 30 September 2013. This was in addition to the routine childhood MMR vaccination programme, where MMR vaccine is provided to children at the age of 12-13 months and at three years four months of age, or as soon after, to coincide with the other pre-school immunisations.   Latest figures suggest the catch up campaign has had a significant effect on reducing the number of cases of incidence from this disease. Provisional data shows the second quarter of 2014 had 10 cases confirmed, a significant reduction from 434 cases from the same quarter in 2013, before the catch up campaign was initiated. A PHE evaluation study in February 2014 estimated that at mid-point of the campaign, approximately 95% of 10-16 year olds in England have received at least one dose of measles containing vaccine.   Officials in the Department last had discussions on measles with their counterparts in the devolved administrations in June and September 2013 during the 2013 measles outbreak.

Obesity: Children

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on a co-ordinated strategy to stem the increase in the number of overweight children.

Jane Ellison: We have not had discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive about a co-ordinated strategy to tackle child obesity. Departmental officials meet regularly with the Devolved Administrations to discuss public health issues including obesity.   The numbers of overweight children in England and Northern Ireland are not rising. In 2012 around 28% of 2-15 years olds in England were either overweight or obese, down from 30% in 2011, and in Northern Ireland 27% were either overweight or obese in 2012-13, with no significant change over the previous two years.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes in England has taken to promote local awareness of diabetes.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the National Clinical Director for Obesity and Diabetes is taking to achieve the priorities in the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Jane Ellison: Details on how the priorities outlined in the NHS Five Year Forward View will be taken forward are currently being worked up by the NHS national bodies, with engagement from a wide range of stakeholders, including the National Clinical Director (NCD) for Obesity and Diabetes (Professor Jonathan Valabhji).   This will include planning for how the National Health Service will support Public Health England in implementing their new strategy ‘From Evidence into Action: opportunities to protect and improve the nation’s health’, which includes priorities for tackling obesity, as well as the other new approaches to improving health and wellbeing as outlined in the Forward View. These include supporting healthier behaviours and the development of a national evidence-based diabetes prevention programme.   The NCD for Obesity and Diabetes provides national leadership on all aspects of diabetes care. For example, he works with the Cardiovascular Disease Strategic Clinical Networks to drive diabetes service improvement locally and nationally, using data from the National Diabetes Audit and the National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network to facilitate change.   The NCD for Obesity and Diabetes also contributed to the development of Healthier Lives: Diabetes, Hypertension and NHS Health Check. This is a major new online tool which includes information on prevalence of the conditions and their complications, levels of care provided and the quality of care achieved in each area by local authority, clinical commissioning group and general practice, compared to the England average. This has been designed to help local areas improve their services.

General Practitioners

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP Super-Practices he plans to set up by the end of 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England is responsible for commissioning general practice services. Their Five Year Forward View announced that they will support practices to become Multispeciality Community Providers (MCPs), sometimes referred to as ‘Super-Practices’. These could be in the form of single practices, loose federations of multiple practices, or mergers between practices.   NHS England has advised that no assessment has been made as to how many MCPs will emerge by the end of 2014.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the amount (a) recoverable and (b) recovered by the UK through the European Health Insurance Card scheme was in 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: In 2013-14, the United Kingdom accounted for £29,900,0001 to be claimed from European Economic Area countries for having provided National Health Service treatment to those temporary visitors who are insured under the European Health Insurance Card scheme.   We would expect this sum to be settled in full subject to minor adjustment to reflect any agreed rejection of individual invalid claims or adjustments to formula agreement calculations. However, settlement rules allow a period of 18 months for payments to be requested, reviewed and settled, so an actual recovered value for this claim is not available at this time.   1Source: Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) exercise. Totals are based on estimates of the costs of European Economic Area (EEA) healthcare claims made annually for the purposes of provision made in the Department of Health accounts in accordance with Treasury resource accounting rules.

Obesity and Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking in response to the prioritisation of diabetes and obesity prevention in the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Jane Ellison: We welcome the focus on prevention in the NHS Five Year Forward View, and details on how the priorities outlined in the View will be taken forward are currently being discussed by the NHS national bodies, with engagement from a wide range of stakeholders.

Health Services: EU Nationals

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was to the NHS of providing treatment to visitors from (a) the European Economic Area and (b) other non-permanent residents in 2013-14.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the amount (a) recoverable and (b) recovered for the cost of medical treatment of foreign visitors by the UK through its reciprocal arrangements with non-EU countries was in 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: In 2013-14, the United Kingdom claimed £40.4 million from European Economic Area (EEA) member states for having provided National Health Service treatment to those visitors who are insured under European Social Security Regulations, evidenced by presenting a valid European Health Insurance Card or having been referred for pre-planned treatment with an ‘S2’ referral.   EEA nationals who are ordinarily resident in the UK, i.e. living here on a properly settled basis for the time being, even if not permanently, are entitled to free NHS treatment without charge.   The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s hospital episode statistics do not contain information about the patient’s residency, nationality or migration status; therefore it is not possible to provide the cost to the NHS of providing treatment to non-permanent residents in the UK who have EEA nationality.   Under the terms of the reciprocal healthcare agreements that the UK has with certain non-EEA countries, neither the UK, nor the respective other country, recovers costs for the provision of treatment to visitors between those countries.

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether an official review of the National Dementia Strategy has taken place.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what detailed assessments he has made of the effectiveness of the National Dementia Strategy; and if he will publish the full results of that assessment.

Norman Lamb: While the Department has not undertaken a detailed assessment of the effectiveness of the National Dementia Strategy, it has commissioned an independent assessment of the improvements in dementia care and support since 2009, which incorporates the progress made under both the National Dementia Strategy (2009-14) and the current Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia. The National Dementia Strategy was superseded by the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia launched in 2012, which builds on and takes forward at pace the work commenced as part of the National Dementia Strategy. The Prime Minister's Challenge concludes at the end of March 2015.   The National Dementia Strategy has been the subject of more detailed work by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Dementia and other organisations this year, which is being used to inform the Department’s work on the future of dementia care and support. The APPG published a report in May 2014, ‘Building on the National Dementia Strategy: Change, progress and priorities’.

Dementia

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Ministers have become dementia friends; and on what date they became a dementia friend.

Norman Lamb: Five Department of Health Ministers are Dementia Friends. The Secretary of State for Health became a Dementia Friend on 18 March 2014. I became a Dementia Friend on 18 April 2013, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality (Earl Howe) became a Dementia Friend on 11 November 2013, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences (George Freeman) became a Dementia Friend on 14 January 2014 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) became a Dementia Friend on 6 November 2014.   The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Dr Daniel Poulter), is a practising National Health Service doctor, who has cared for patients with dementia and received extensive dementia awareness training as part of his medical training.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Dental Services

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of admissions to hospital via accident and emergency departments were related to dental problems in each of the last four years.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is shown in the following table.   A count of (a) finished admission episodes1 admitted via accident and emergency2 (A&E) where the consultant's main specialty was dental3, (b) all finished admission episodes admitted via A&E and (c) the percentage of all admissions via A&E that were under a consultant with a dental specialty for the years 2009-10 to 2012-134, the last four years of published data.   Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.(a) Dental FAEs admitted via A&E(b) All FAEs admitted via A&E(c) Percentage of all FAEs admitted via A&E that were Dental2009-1020,3173,968,8810.51%2010-1121,2854,104,9950.52%2011-1222,3564,124,3900.54%2012-1321,2654,235,9760.50%   1Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 2 Admission via A&E Admissions where the method of admission is recorded as 21 - Emergency Admission via A&E 28 - Emergency Admission - Other (including A&E of a different provider) 3Consultant Main Specialty The specialty under which the consultant responsible for the care of the patient at that time is registered. Care is needed when analysing Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data by specialty, or by groups of specialties (such as "acute"). Trusts have different ways of managing specialties and attributing codes so it is better to analyse by specific diagnoses, operations or other patient or service information. Consultant Main Specialty Codes 140 Oral Surgery 141 Restorative Dentistry 142 Paediatric Dentistry (available from 1999-2000) 143 Orthodontics 145 Oral & Maxillo Facial Surgery (available from 2004-05) 146 Endodontics 147 Periodontics 148 Prosthodontics 4Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data.   Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Legal Costs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2014 to Question 205866, on legal costs, if he will break that data down by type of legal service.

Dr Daniel Poulter: It is unclear from the hon. Member's question what is specifically meant by type of legal service.

Doctors: Training

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will instruct Health Education England to make a placement in General Practice compulsory for all F1 and F2 trainee doctors.

Dr Daniel Poulter: No.   In England, all foundation schools are expected to work with Health Education England by way of meeting the recommendations set out in ‘Broadening the Foundation Programme’, including that at least 80% of foundation doctors should undertake a community or integrated placement from August 2015.

Pneumococcal Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of people have records contained in the General Practice Research Database; how many patients whose records are in the Database have at least one record of pneumococcal disease (a) in total and (b) in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The main primary care database held by the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) is known as CPRD GOLD (formerly known as the General Practice Research Database, or GPRD). CPRD GOLD contains the anonymised, longitudinal medical records of patients registered with contributing primary care practices across the United Kingdom.   The CPRD GOLD database covers approximately 8.8% of the UK population, including practices in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. As of September 2014 there were 684 general practitioner (GP) practices and 13.58 million acceptable (research quality) patients in GOLD, of which 5.69 million are active (still alive and registered with the GP practice). Data has been collected from GP practices since 1987.   A review of the CPRD GOLD database has identified the a total of 15,248 acceptable (research quality) patients with at least one record of pneumococcal disease in CPRD GOLD over the period 1 January 1987 to 30 September 2014 during their up-to-standard registration period. Of these patients, 14,150 had at least one record of pneumococcal pneumonia and 491 patients had at least one record of pneumococcal meningitis.   Over the period 1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014, there were a total of 473 acceptable (research quality) patients with at least one record of pneumococcal disease during their up-to-standard registration period. Of these patients; 445 had a record of pneumococcal pneumonia and 14 had at least one record of pneumococcal meningitis.

Pneumococcal Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of people in defined at risk groups who were eligible for pneumococcal vaccinations were vaccinated against pneumococcal disease in each of the last five year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The following tables show the percentage who received the pneumococcal vaccinations (PPV) in that financial year, and the percentage of people 65 years and over who have ever received PPV vaccine.   Percentage of those aged 65 years+ vaccinated against PPV in each of last five years:   Period vaccinatedPercentage of >=65 years received PPV vaccine Period vaccinatedPercentage of >=65 years received PPV vaccineFrom 1 April 2008 to 31 March 20094.1% Anytime up to 31 March 200968.2%From 1 April 2009 to 31 March 20103.9% Anytime up to 31 March 201069.4%From 1 April 2010 to 31 March 20113.8% Anytime up to 31 March 201170.5%From 1 April 2011 to 31 March 20123.6% Anytime up to 31 March 201268.3%From 1 April 2012 to 31 March 20133.9% Anytime up to 31 March 201369.1%   There has only been one survey of pneumococcal vaccine uptake for clinical risk groups under 65 years of age which was undertaken in 2009. The proportion who had received vaccine in the financial year (1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009) was 3.7%. The cumulative vaccine uptake for those in a clinical at risk group aged 2 to 65 years up and until 31 March 2009 (i.e. those who had received pneumococcal vaccine at any time up to that date) was 53.0%.

Pneumococcal Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of cases of invasive pneumococcal disease which were preventable in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Data for England and Wales are analysed six months after the end of the reporting year based on laboratory confirmed reports of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and the results of serotyping.   The data provided below relates to the total number of IPD cases in England and Wales for all ages up to June 2013 with serotypes that are in the current Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine-13 (PCV-13) vaccine recommended in the childhood schedule and which are potentially preventable. PCV-13, which was introduced in 2010, is routinely offered to children aged two, four and 12 months.   Number of IPD cases for all ages, up to June 2013:   YearNumber of IPD cases2008-093,0492009-102,7592010-112,6902011-121,7682012-131,448

Pneumococcal Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the NHS was of treating invasive pneumococcal disease in each year from 2008 to 2013.

Jane Ellison: We are advised that NHS England does not hold estimates of the cost of treating invasive pneumococcal disease covering the years from 2008-2013.

Pneumococcal Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department's pneumococcal vaccination targets are met.

Jane Ellison: Immunisation against pneumococcal disease is offered to children at two, four and 12-13 months of age, and adults aged 65 years or over. It is also recommended to those at increased risk of pneumococcal infection.   There are no targets set for the pneumococcal programmes. The need to aim for as high an uptake rate as possible is set out in the Section 7A service agreement between the Department and NHS England for each individual vaccination programme. This agreement states that the objectives of the programme concerned is to improve or at least maintain the vaccination coverage from the previous year’s annual uptake results.   Vaccinating risk groups is now in the general practitioners (GPs) contract and GP practices have systems to ensure eligible patients are invited for vaccine to improve coverage.   Leaflets and other promotional material explaining the benefits of pneumococcal immunisation are produced by Public Health England (PHE) for the use of GPs and other health professionals. Information about this immunisation is also available on the NHS Choices and PHE websites.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

UK Export Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of successful applicants to the UK Export Finance line of credit facility have been small and medium-sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Exporters do not apply for lines of credit. Lines of credit are umbrella buyer credit facilities put in place at the request of an overseas buyer to purchase goods and services from a number of UK exporters.

EU External Trade: USA

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress he has made on the recent round of discussions on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Matthew Hancock: The seventh round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) took place between 29 September and 3 October in Chevy Chase, Maryland. As expected, negotiations were largely focused on regulatory issues. Discussions also covered energy, intellectual property, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and services.   There was good technical progress, particularly on regulatory coherence, for example in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. This progress is crucial and prepares the ground for an ambitious and comprehensive agreement.

Met Office

Rebecca Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the new Met Office supercomputer will be better able to predict heavy storms such as the one in Castle Point on 20 July 2014; and whether that supercomputer will enable agencies listed as category one flood responders to obtain more accurate data about catastrophic weather events with more notice than they currently receive.

Greg Clark: The new supercomputer will enable the Met Office to predict small-scale, high impact weather features – such as thunderstorms – with greater detail and accuracy, and to provide earlier warnings of severe weather to emergency responders.

Met Office

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the increased accuracy in weather forecasting arising from the new Met Office supercomputer.

Greg Clark: The new supercomputer will enable the Met Office to improve the accuracy of its weather forecasts on all timescales. At short-range, for example, the Met Office expects that during the lifetime of the new supercomputer its 24-hour forecast will become as accurate as its 12-hour forecast is now. This will enable the Met Office to provide earlier, more accurate and more detailed warning of severe weather and help the UK to be more resilient and better prepared for high impact events.

European Space Agency

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the time taken for the general release of data from European Science Agency (ESA) projects; and if he will make future UK contributions to ESA projects conditional on full and immediate release of all data.

Greg Clark: Data release from ESA missions is governed by agreements approved by all Member States. Release is normally after 6 months, allowing the scientists leading the mission –including many from the UK - to check the integrity of the data and undertake necessary calibrations. This is essential for the data to be scientifically useful.  The UK will continue to press for the best agreements to maximise the effective use of the data and ensure that images are available as soon as possible to inform the public about these exciting projects.

Apprentices: Cumbria

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many new apprenticeships were created in (a) Cumbria and (b) South Lakeland in each year since 2005.

Nick Boles: Information on apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release (SFR): https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364255/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls

Post Offices: Financial Services

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps Post Office Ltd is taking to encourage banks to expand availability of their services through the Post Office network.

Jo Swinson: Post Office Limited already provides access to 95% of current accounts across the counter at more than 11,500 Post Offices. This is in addition to the Post Office’s own wide range of personal financial services, which includes three types of current account. It also operates a network 2,500 ATMs which are free to use and part of the LINK network, enabling withdrawals from a full range of current and other accounts; many of these in rural and deprived areas.   Since 2010, Post Office Ltd has reached agreement with RBS (including NatWest) and HSBC to allow customers to access their current accounts at post office branches. Post Office Ltd continue to engage with the one remaining high street bank (Santander) who have yet to offer their customers this service.   The Secretary of State will be writing to the banks to ask them how they plan to ensure that the banking needs of vulnerable consumers are met, particularly in areas facing branch closures. He will also be encouraging them to give priority consideration to creating or building on existing partnership arrangements with Post Office Limited, including considering how to address any additional financial and operational burdens on the Post Office.

Post Offices: Biometrics

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, at what locations in the UK Post Office Ltd has installed applicant enrolment identification machines.

Jo Swinson: The location of Post Office Application Enrolment and Identity machines is the operational responsibility of Post Office Limited.   As such I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Telecommunications: Foreign Investment in UK

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote the UK as a hub for global trade to foreign investors involved in the telecoms industry.

Matthew Hancock: As part of our measures to promote the UK to foreign investors and encourage them to locate their Headquarters in the UK, we have cut our corporate tax to 21 per cent and will reduce it further to 20% in 2015. We offer R&D tax credits, and companies placing intellectual property here can take advantage of the Patent Box.   These lower barriers to market entry allow easier access to the UK’s lucrative $65bn telecoms sector and also the wider European market. UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and its partners in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales coordinate the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment working with local partners and overseas Posts.   Most of the major global companies in the telecoms sector have a UK presence. Key account management has been introduced for a number of these through a cross-Government “Strategic Relationships Team”, to provide a central point of contact to help reach government efficiently.   We are investing over £780 million to achieve a transformation in broadband in the UK, and large parts of the country will have access to high speed 4G mobile broadband services, with 98 per cent coverage in place by 2017.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's proposed changes to Disabled Students' Allowances on access by disabled students to assistive technology.

Greg Clark: The Government will continue to provide assistive technology for students under the Disabled Students’ Allowances.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of his Department's proposed changes to Disabled Students' Allowances on rates of entry by disabled people to further and higher education.

Greg Clark: The Government does not believe that these changes will affect rates of entry by disabled students to higher education, as the necessary support will continue to be provided.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with (a) disability charities and organisations and (b) universities and colleges on the effects of his Department's proposed changes to Disabled Students' Allowance.

Greg Clark: Over the summer Ministers and Officials held discussions with a wide range of stakeholders and interested parties, including HEIs, NUS, UUK, disability groups, on the proposed changes. We continue to have discussions with many of these groups about the implementation of the changes announced on 12 September.

Business: Billing

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with specialist subcontractors in the construction industry on tackling late payment to small and medium-sized businesses.

Nick Boles: The Government takes the issue of prompt payment seriously and respects some of the differences which prevail in the construction industry. We are taking a number of steps, including promoting project bank accounts, through Government procurement. More widely, the Industrial Strategy for Construction committed to developing a construction supply chain payment charter, which was published on 22 April. The Charter sets out 11 “Fair Payment Commitments” including a commitment to reduce payment terms to a supply chain to 30 days from January 2018. The Leadership Council will encourage construction businesses from across the whole supply chain to comply with it.

Business: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many employers in (a) the North West and (b) Warrington have been (i) named and (ii) prosecuted since 1 October 2013.

Jo Swinson: The Government has named 30 employers under the revised Naming and Shaming Scheme. Between them they owed workers a total of over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000. Details of these employers can be found on the original press notices (28 February 2014 and 8 June 2014), including the town in which the employer is based. However, these organisations may employ staff or have offices or other operations in other geographical locations.   No employers have been prosecuted under the National Minimum Wage Act since October 2013.

Minimum Wage

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the company registration number is of (a) Master Distribution Limited, Essex and (b) Zoom Limited, Havant, named for non-payment of the national minimum wage in his Department's press notice of 8 June 2014.

Jo Swinson: Details of the employers that have already been named under the BIS Naming Scheme can be found on the original press notices (28 February 2014 and 8 June 2014).   Information about individual companies, including registration numbers, is available through the Companies House website www.companieshouse.gov.uk.   Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue & Customs investigate all complaints.

Chemicals: Syria

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether licences grated to companies to export dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons to Syria remain in place.

Matthew Hancock: No licences granted to companies to export dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons to Syria remain in place.

Chemicals: Syria

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make public the names of the companies which had licences approved to export dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons to Syria.

Matthew Hancock: The names of the companies which had licences approved to export dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons to Syria cannot be disclosed. Following an assessment under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act the public interest, in the maintenance of the confidentiality and overall integrity of the export licensing system, on this occasion outweighs the public interest in the disclosure of the name of the exporter.

Chemicals: Syria

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he took to ensure that the export licences approved to export to Syria dual-use chemicals that could be used as precursors to the production of chemical weapons would not be used for this purpose.

Matthew Hancock: Applications to export dual use chemicals to Syria were assessed thoroughly against strict licensing criteria, drawing on open source and classified information. However, the licences were revoked following a revision to the sanctions regime which came into force on 17 June 2012. No goods were exported to Syria under these licences before they were revoked.

Minimum Wage

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many employers were named for breaking the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in each month of 2014 to date.

Jo Swinson: Since 1 October 2013 the Government has named 30 employers under the revised scheme. Between them they owed workers a total of over £50,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £24,000. We will be naming other employers that break National Minimum Wage law very soon.   These employers were named in two separate press notices (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-names-employers-who-fail-to-pay-minimum-wage and https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-gets-tough-with-employers-failing-to-pay-minimum-wage). Five employers were named in February 2014 and 25 employers were named in June 2014.   Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue & Customs investigate all complaints.

Energy: Industry

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward assistance for energy intensive industries from 2016 to 2015.

Matthew Hancock: Energy intensive industries already benefit from compensation for the indirect cost of the EU ETS and the Carbon Price Floor. As announced in Budget, Government is seeking to compensate electricity intensive industries (EIIs) for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Feed in Tariff (FiT). Government is also seeking to exempt EIIs from the costs of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) - both compensations are subject to consultation and state aid approval.   The 2016/17 timescale takes into account the time it may take EU for state aid clearance, as it took 18 months to obtain European state aid clearance for the Carbon Price Floor. Government will keep the timetable under review and press for the earliest possible resolution.

Fracking

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of shale gas extraction on the industrial supply chain.

Matthew Hancock: The ‘Getting Ready for UK Shale Gas’ report – commissioned by the onshore oil & gas industry and part-funded by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills – was published on 24th April and details the supply chain and skills needed to develop shale gas in the UK.   The report outlines the huge potential economic benefits to the UK economy. It estimates a potential £33 billion benefit to the UK economy, with over 64,000 jobs and the creation of a new onshore supply chain market for equipment, services and skills - across a number of industry sectors.   Full details of the report are at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/getting-ready-for-shale-gas-supply-chain-estimated-to-be-worth-billions-as-new-environmental-measures-announced.

Ministry of Defence

Iraq

Mr Peter Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK personnel were involved in the destruction of Borak chemical rockets in 2006.

Mr Mark Francois: UK personnel destroyed Al-Borak rockets on two occasions in Iraq during 2006. On each occasion some 10 UK personnel were involved in the destruction and the subsequent survey to confirm that no explosive or chemical contamination remained in the area. In addition, UK personnel transported the munitions to the site and provided perimeter security.

Armed Forces: Officers

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officers in the regular forces there have been at each rank between one star, NATO code OF-6, and five star, NATO code OF-10, in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The rank structure for Senior Officers in the UK Regular Forces at 1 April in each requested year is presented in the table. The NATO Rank of OF-10 (equivalent to an Army Field Marshal) is normally an honorary rank and is not included in official statistics. NATO Rank Code   20102011201220132014 OF-999987 OF-83124252827 OF-7951021019795 OF6360343330303308  UK Regular Forces comprises trained and untrained personnel and excludes Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service personnel and mobilised reservists. NATO Rank Codes equivalence in UK Service Rank is as follows: OF-9 General/Admiral/Air Chief Marshal; OF-8 Lieutenant General/Vice Admiral/Air Marshal; OF-7 Major General/Rear Admiral/Air Vice Marshal; OF-6 Brigadier/Commodore/Air Commodore.

RAF Northolt

Mr Brian H. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual operating cost is of RAF Northolt.

Mr Philip Dunne: The annual operation costs of RAF Northolt for financial year 2013-14 is included in the following table. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100,000 and are inclusive of Net Additional Costs of Military Operations.  Expenditure TypeFinancial Year 2013-14Costs£ millionPersonnel (Military and Civilian)15.7Infrastructure11.9Stock Consumption9.1Equipment Support15.1Other Costs2.8Receipts and Other Income-9.6Total45

Clubs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who has access to his Department's sports and social club; what the annual cost of running the club was in each of the last two years; what benefits members receive; and what the cost per person is of such benefits.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has a sports and social club which all civilian staff are eligible to join. This is known as the Defence Sports and Recreation Association (DSRA).The cost of running the DSRA is limited to the salaries of three staff. Expenditure in financial year (FY) 2012-13 was around £101,000 and expenditure for FY 2013-14 was around £102,000.Members are able to benefit from a wide range of sporting and/or recreational activities, competitions and initiatives that are organised or supported by the DSRA or its partner organisation, the Civil Service Sports Council. Membership is £3.70 per month and there are currently around 20,000 members.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reports from independent companies and subject experts in sea bed restoration and conservation the Maritime Heritage Foundation have been submitted to the Expert Panel and Advisory Group, in respect to the wreck site of HMS Victory 1744.

Anna Soubry: Since 2008, when Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the wreck of HMS Victory 1744, the site has been regularly monitored and the reports of several site surveys have been submitted to the Government. These include environmental studies of the site's sedimentology and suitability for in situ preservation and the wreck's marine biological profile have been completed by the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and the University of Huelva, Spain. In addition, the relevant passages in the Project Design have been considered by the Advisory Group and Expert Panel. Further, Wessex Archaeology produced two independent reports in 2009, which can be found at http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/reports/71070/hms-victory-1744.

Middle East

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the direct military aid his Department provided to Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



To date in 2014, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has undertaken the following military assistance to units in Iraq: airstrikes, and accompanying surveillance, which have been critical to supporting the Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga; donated military equipment (such as rations and sleeping bags); and gifted 40 heavy machine guns and almost half a million rounds of ammunition. In addition, the UK has delivered weapons and ammunition from other coalition countries to Northern Iraq. Finally, UK personnel have been conducting training on the UK-gifted heavy machine guns near Erbil. Earlier in the year counter-improvised explosive device training was conducted by a private company, sponsored by three UK Government Departments, including the MOD.No assistance has been given to Syrian Kurdish forces.

Afghanistan

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many servicemen and women from Northern Ireland were injured in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



This information is not readily accessible in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Afghanistan

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what legacy the Armed Forces leave in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



British forces justifiably take considerable pride in their achievements in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for international terrorists. We have helped to develop the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), totalling around 330,000 almost from scratch. The ANSF now have responsibility for security across the country, leading 99% of all security operations and carrying out 90% of their own training. Their work recently made possible the first democratic transition of power in Afghanistan's history.

War Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many claimants of the War Pensions Scheme in each age group receive (a) the Allowance for a Lowered Standard of Occupation and (b) the Unemployability Supplement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



The attached table shows the number of recipients of the Allowance for Lower Standard of Occupation (ALSO) and the Unemployability Supplement (UnSupp) under the War Pension Scheme, by age group, as at 31 March 2014 (the latest date for which data are available).   Recipients of ALSO and UnSupp, by age group, as at 31 March 2014, numbers1  Source: War Pensions Computer System (WPCS), Defence Business ServicesIn line with Defence Statistics' Rounding Policy, all figures of five or more have been rounded to the nearest 5 and figures fewer than five have been suppressed and marked ~.



Allowance for Lower Standard of Occupation
(Word Document, 24 KB)

Armed Forces: Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what cost his Department (a) has and (b) will incur for the (i) design and (ii) editing of the British Armed Forces Learning Resource 2014.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



None. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not incurred any cost in the design and editing of the British Armed Forces Learning Resource, which was produced and edited independently.

War Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much on average is received each week by claimants of the War Pensions Scheme in each age group who claim (a) the Allowance for a Lowered Standard or Occupation and (b) the Unemployability Supplement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



It is not possible to provide details of how much on average is paid to recipients of the Allowance for a Lowered Standard of Occupation and the Unemployability Supplement because details of such expenditure are not held in age groupings, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.However, for financial year 2013-14, an average £60 per week was paid to recipients of the Allowance for a Lowered Standard of Occupation and an average £110 per week was paid to recipients of the Unemployability Supplement.In line with Defence Statistics' Rounding Policy, all figures of five or more have been rounded to the nearest 5.

Mali

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) HM service personnel and (b) civilians have been seconded by the UK Government to (a) MINUSMA and (b) the EU Training Mission in Mali; and how many such personnel speak both English and French.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



There are currently 30 UK Service personnel and two Foreign and Commonwealth Office civilians serving in the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali). There are two UK Service personnel serving in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Of these 34, five speak both English and French.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is firmly committed to reducing its energy consumption across the Estate. Data about the proportion of lighting on the MOD estate which is LED is not held centrally. However, under the Energy Spend-to-Save programme, which was developed following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, £32.5 million was spent on lighting projects at approximately 160 sites. The majority of these projects were the replacement of existing lighting with LEDs. Altogther the projects are expected to generate an enduring saving of around £15 million each year.

Joint Exercises

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) assets and (b) personnel are taking part in NATO Exercise Iron Sword.

Mr Julian Brazier: Exercise Iron Sword is a multinational exercise taking place in Lithuania from 2 to 14 November. A total of 89 UK personnel, the majority of whom are from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, and 23 vehicles are taking part in the exercise.

Sentinel Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what upgrades the Sentinel R1 aircraft is receiving; and what the (a) purpose, (b) cost to the public purse and (c) completion date of those upgrades is.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the upgrades to the Sentinel R1 aircraft will include the ability to collect and process (a) magnetic anomaly and (b) bathymetric data.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 1 September 2014, (Official Report, column 103W), to him and to the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Kevan Jones). I am withholding technical details of the upgrades as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Sentinel Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where Sentinel R1 aircraft will be based in their maritime surveillance role.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Sentinel R1 aircraft main operating base is RAF Waddington, though the aircraft are currently temporarily based at RAFC Cranwell due to the runway rebuild at Waddington.

Military Medals Review

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Sir John Holmes' independent Military Medals Review.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to make excellent progress in implementing the recommendations of Sir John Holmes's Medals Review. For example, the Prime Minister recently presented South Atlantic Medals to those personnel who became eligible under the change of criteria recommended by Sir John. In addition, the MOD Medal Office has issued in excess of 13,000 Arctic Stars and over 7,000 Bomber Command Clasps.

Military Decorations

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what criteria applications for service medals for auxiliary personnel are judged.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



Operational and Gallantry Medal awards for our Reserve Forces are judged under the same criteria as those for their Regular counterparts. The difference between awards for Reserve and Regular service is in relation to length of service.The Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) can be awarded to all Volunteer Reserve personnel after 10 years service. The Long Service and Good Conduct medal can be awarded to regular personnel below the rank of officer after 15 years exemplary service.

Bahrain

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what defence agreements exist between the UK and Bahrain.

Mr Philip Dunne: On 11 October 2014 the UK and Bahrain signed a Defence Co-Operation Accord to provide a framework for existing and future defence engagement activity, including training and capacity- building, in order to enhance the stability of the wider region. The Accord complements Memoranda of Understanding covering Status of Forces, Defence Equipment Cooperation and Exercises and Training. In addition, we have had a long-standing presence in Bahrain, with continuous Royal Navy patrols in the Gulf since the 1980s protecting Britain's interests.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to promote environmental and sustainable housebuilding following the abolition of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will prepare and publish a new draft code for sustainable homes.

Stephen Williams: The Housing Standards Review has clearly established the Government’s policy to rationalise and simplify the many overlapping and confusing technical housing standards currently in operation. The Review will enable quality and sustainable housing developments to be brought forward more easily but without compromising essential safety and accessibility protections. The outcome of the Review also means that a number of the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes will be consolidated into the Building Regulations, which would require substantial changes to the content of the current Code, as well as reconsideration of its role. So in the light of this, the Government stated in the recent technical consultation that the current Code will be wound down to coincide with the changes incorporating the new standards coming into force, early in the new year. The consultation also set out proposals on the transitional arrangements, and for the handling of legacy developments being built out to current Code requirements.

Lighting

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the level of street lighting they should have in place.

Kris Hopkins: Street lighting plays an important role in road safety, as well as ensuring the personal safety of pedestrians. There may be some roads where lights could be dimmed in the very early hours, saving taxpayers’ money. However, this should be a local decision by elected local councillors, reflecting local circumstances-specially in relation to any concerns about crime. Equally, not every neighbourhood wants street lighting, as some communities, especially in rural areas, value dark skies.We believe that councils should listen to the views of their local residents, and then adopt appropriate local policies based on the neighbourhood, the precise location and the usage of the road/street. I previously noted that “Manual for Streets” contains some useful guidance on getting the balance right when providing street lighting, taking into account the different issues around safety, crime prevention, street clutter and light pollution. Ultimately, there is no prescriptive Whitehall guidance, and any assessment will depend on local circumstances and local views.Notwithstanding, I would observe that Her Majesty’s Opposition seem to have a short memory about their actions on cutting street lighting when they were in office:Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:The right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) (now Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) when Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, his Department and its quangos lectured local councils to switch off or reduce street lighting to minimise carbon emissions. For example, in 2007, he personally launched the Carbon Trust Standard, which was tied to an extensive programme to reduce street lighting as part of the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme. As DEFRA Ministers told the House:“All authorities should be seeking to reduce energy usage both to cut costs and to help combat climate change. As street lighting accounts for a significant proportion of the energy used by authorities, it should be readily identified as an area that should be examined for potential efficiency savings”(6 November 2006, Official Report, column 709W).Department for Transport:The Minister of State for Transport, the noble Lord Adonis (now a Shadow Treasury Minister) when asked about reducing the hours of operation of street lighting, noted that“the Government also support the Carbon Trust’s local authority carbon management programme, which provides councils with support and guidance to help them realise carbon emissions savings from street lighting”(17 December 2008, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA52). Transport Ministers also endorsed the Highways Agency’s‘Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting’ which led to switching off motorway lighting at night (21 April 2008,Official Report, column 1444W; Highways Agency“Efficiency Strategy for Road Lighting Midnight Switch Off for Motorway Lighting”, 2009).Department for Communities and Local Government:The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) (now Shadow Home Secretary), when as Minister in the precursor Department to DCLG, noted there was nuanced debate on the extent of street lighting:“We all recognise the fact that there is a series of tensions around light pollution. People in the cities will never have the same view of the night sky as one can get in the middle of Dartmoor... There can be tensions too at neighbourhood level between the security-obsessed householder who has glaring white security lights stuck to every corner of the house, which flicker on every time a little bird flies past or the cat runs across the garden, and the neighbour who... has a telescope and cannot see across the garden, let alone into the skies”(12 February 2004, Official Report, column 510WH).Department of Energy and Climate Change:In 2008, the right hon. Member for Leeds East (Hilary Benn) also personally launched the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which resulted in councils cutting carbon emissions from street lighting, including dimming or switching off lights. The Highway Agency’s “Energy Strategy for Roadside Equipment” (April 2010) explained that the approach of “dimming, trimming and partial night lighting” was a consequence of the requirements to meet the Carbon Reduction Commitment. As DECC Ministers said to the House:“DECC is working to include street lighting in the Carbon Reduction Commitment. This will provide an incentive for local authorities to improve the energy efficiency of street lights. DECC is working closely with Communities and Local Government to develop the policy, in so far as it relates to local authorities”(19 June 2009, Official Report, column 515W). Of course, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change at that time was the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) now Leader of HM Opposition.I hope this illuminates the historical fogginess of the Labour party’s current campaign on municipal street lighting. I would suggest the last person out of Labour HQ tonight should turn off the lights.

Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to assist local authorities build more sustainable homes.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to enable local authorities to promote sustainable house building.

Stephen Williams: The Government has policies and programmes in place to assist local authorities to build more homes. This includes the £122 million additional borrowing allocated to 22 councils to help them build new affordable homes and support local growth. We will make further announcements of additional borrowing to local councils later in the year. This is only possible thanks to the decisive action we have taken to reduce the deficit left by the last Labour Government. Further details of the actions we have taken recently to support house building, amongst other departmental work, are set out in the written statement made on13 October 2014 (Official Report, Written Ministerial Statements, Column 2WS). All new homes have to meet Building Regulations’ requirements and in April strengthened energy performance standards came into effect. In the Housing Standards Review, the Government is streamlining the technical standards which apply to new housing development and consolidating as far as possible necessary requirements into Building Regulations to ensure new homes are sustainable. As part of the review, the Government intends to bring forward optional Building Regulations requirements in areas such as accessibility and water efficiency which will enable local authorities to apply higher standards than the Building Regulations national minimum standard where there is a local need, and viability is not compromised. Furthermore, The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to sustainable development and local authorities should consider applications for housing development in that context.

Local Government Ombudsman

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding is allocated to the Local Government Ombudsman; how many staff the Ombudsman employs; and how many enquiries were received by the Ombudsman in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Kris Hopkins: The information requested can be found in the Local Government Ombudsman’s annual report and accounts, which are presented to Parliament each year, and which are available online at: http://www.lgo.org.uk/publications/annual-report/

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance to (a) local authorities and (b) fire and rescue authorities that they should implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting in their buildings.

Stephen Williams: My Department sets minimum standards in the Building Regulations for the energy efficiency of lighting when installed in new and existing buildings, but does not issue guidance on replacement programmes for lighting. The standards in the Building Regulations can be met by LEDs, but it is for local authorities and fire and rescue authorities to judge for themselves when replacement of existing systems will be practical and cost-effective. LED retrofit solutions and key considerations are covered in the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Code of Practice for the Application of LED Lighting Systems, published earlier this year.Although LEDs are improving all the time, they are not at the moment necessarily any more energy efficient than modern fluorescent luminaires - or better when comparing things like light quality, reliability, maintainability and lifetime costs - to justify wholesale replacement of existing lighting systems. The main advantage of LEDs over fluorescent luminaires is that they do not contain any mercury and, when compared with compact fluorescent lamps, reach full brightness immediately.DECC has policy responsibility for the Ecodesign Directive, which includes requirements for the efficiency of lamps that can be placed on the EU market. By 2016, only LEDs and the most efficient halogen lamps will be able to meet the standards.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to put in place a planning process for fracking which diverges from existing planning rules.

Brandon Lewis: We have already made a number of changes to the local planning system in England to ensure that it is suitable in respect to unconventional hydrocarbons. The National Planning Policy Framework, published in March 2012, sets out the policy framework for minerals, including unconventional hydrocarbons. We have also updated the supporting planning guidance to provide clarity on the role of the planning system in respect to unconventional hydrocarbons, and published this in a web-based format in March 2014. Further, we introduced in early 2014 a streamlined common application form and amended regulations on notification requirements and fees for the winning and working of oil and natural gas (including exploratory drilling).

Affordable Housing

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the costs of Clause 3 of the Affordable Homes Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The scale of research proposed could be expected to cost more than £250,000, based on the Department’s experience of similar projects. A more precise estimate would require more detailed scoping and market testing. Local authorities are already required to develop an evidence base locally, to ensure their Local Plan meets the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the housing market area, consistent with the policies set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Government has published new guidance to local authorities on how to assess housing need in their area.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what has been the current take-up of the Help to Buy scheme in (a) England and (b) Bradford.

Brandon Lewis: This Government is committed to supporting people’s aspirations to own their own home. By 30 September, 54,520 families have bought a home with the assistance of the three Help to Buy schemes in England and 525 in the Bradford Metropolitan District Council area. The Department’s official statistics on sales for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in England, broken down by constituency, local authority and postcode, is available at: http://opendatacommunities.org/def/concept/folders/themes/housing-market. The Department’s official statistics on sales for the Help to Buy: New Buy scheme is available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics. Figures are not available by constituency The Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee scheme is managed by HM Treasury. The latest official statistics is available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-mortgage-guarantee-scheme-quarterly-statistics-october-2013-to-june-2014.This includes total numbers of sales at individual local authority level (Table 7).The 525 Help to Buy Sales in Bradford comprises 387 equity loan sales, 22 Newbuy sales and 116 Mortgage Guarantee sales.

Solar Power

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide that solar panels may not be sited on agricultural land.

Kris Hopkins: In March, my Department published new planning guidance, which made clear to local planning authorities and planning inspectors the particular factors they should consider in relation to large scale ground mounted solar photovoltaic farms. These include making effective use of brownfield land and steering proposals away from good quality agricultural land. It also underlined the importance of protecting landscape and heritage assets, and the need to address issues such as glint and glare. It can be found online at: http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/renewable-and-low-carbon-energy/particular-planning-considerations-for-hydropower-active-solar-technology-solar-farms-and-wind-turbines/ To help focus these developments on brownfield sites, we have been consulting on increasing the amount of solar that can be installed on non-domestic buildings, including commercial roof space without the need for a planning application. As my rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State (Eric Pickles) stated on 8 September 2014, Official Report, Column 648, we are considering what further steps can be taken. Although not a planning matter, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recently announced ending Common Agricultural Policy subsidy payments from land on which solar arrays are hosted, to ensure that farm subsidies support farmers whose primary use of the land is for agriculture and food production.

Scotland Office

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office takes every opportunity to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs. Energy saving bulbs are used wherever feasible.

Department for Transport

Public Opinion

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) surveys in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date.

Claire Perry: The information requested is not held centrally and a complete answer could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Belfast Harbour

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the security regime in the Port of Belfast.

Mr John Hayes: Port Facility Security Assessments are conducted for port facilities in the Port of Belfast as required by EC Regulation 2004/65 on enhancing ship and port facility security. A Port Security Assessment for the Port of Belfast has been undertaken, reviewed and approved by the Department for Transport as required by EC Directive 2005/65/EC on enhancing port security.

Motorcycles: Noise

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2014 to Question 211087, what current legal mechanisms are in place to tackle excessive motorcycle noise and punish the owners of such vehicles.

Claire Perry: Enforcement of legislation including punishment of offenders is a matter for the Home Office. The police decide whether an offence may be being committed and take such action as they consider appropriate in each case. Action might range from informal advice to, for specified offences, the offer of a fixed penalty, to prosecution.

Ebola

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what function the National Maritime Intelligence Organisation's Vessels of Interest (VOI) list performs in alerting ports to ships with potential cases of Ebola onboard; and how many ships have been listed on the VOI list in the last two months because of possible Ebola cases.

Mr John Hayes: The National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC) is reporting to interested government departments the movement and expected arrival information of vessels that have been in ports or anchorages in Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone within the Ebola incubation period (21 days). This information is made available to the ports and shipping communities, including port health authorities. There are six ships on the current Vessels of Interest (VoI) list which have, within the last 21 days, visited ports in the three countries affected by the Ebola outbreak. A total of 67 VoIs has been identified in the last two months. Most of these vessels have not called at a UK port but were rather travelling to neighbouring countries. Of these vessels, none have been identified as having any symptoms of Ebola like virus on board.

Ebola

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department has produced for people working in port pilotage on protocol for dealing with ships entering the UK from regions affected by the Ebola virus.

Mr John Hayes: In October 2014, guidance titled "West Africa Ebola Outbreak – Guidance to UK Ports and Shipping Operators" was produced in consultation with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s medical advisor and Public Health England. Work on additional guidance, which is being produced in consultation with Public Health England, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and industry has been under way for some time, and I have asked for this to be made available as soon as possible.

Ebola

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what independent checks are made on the validity of reports on crew health which ships submit to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on entering UK waters.

Mr John Hayes: Port Health Officers routinely check declarations of health on arrival.

Ebola

Mr Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether extra resources have been made available to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to support its response to the Ebola outbreak; and what estimate he has made of the number of staff hours in the MCA which have been spent on responding to the Ebola outbreak.

Mr John Hayes: I have asked officials at the MCA whether they need any more resources to support their work on the response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Thus far, work on this has been carried out under normal operating procedures.

Roads: Safety

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to educate young people on road safety.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department’s THINK! Education resource centre provides education resources, which are organised into lesson packs by age and stages of education. The Government also has a number of public facing web pages and social media sites such as "Tales of the Road", which features: road safety games, quizzes, tips and advice for 6-11 year olds and their parents; and "I can’t wait to pass my driving test", which has lots of useful information for learning to drive. The Government recognises that there is value in training cyclists to ride safely and confidently on the road. That is why we took the decision to safeguard the future of Bikeability during this Parliament.

River Thames: Bridges

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of new river crossings in East London on the economy of that area.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Under devolution, East London river crossings are primarily a matter for the Mayor and Transport for London. In designating the Silvertown Tunnel as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, this Government has recognised the importance of river-crossing infrastructure to the effective functioning of the strategic road network, and the continued successful development of East London's economy. The Government has made no assessment of new river crossings on the economy of East London. However, Transport for London has published information to support a consultation currently underway on the Silvertown Tunnel, which sets out the value of that scheme to the local economy. The recently concluded consultation on options for new crossings further east included a similar assessment. Both can be found on Transport for London’s consultation website: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/

Roads: Accidents

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road deaths there have been in the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce such deaths.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The number of reported road deaths in Great Britain in the last 5 years is shown in the table below:Year Road deaths 20092,22220101,85020111,90120121,75420131,713In addition the Q1 2014 reported fatalities were published on 7 August 2014 whilst the Q2 statistics were published on 6 November 2014. They can be found athttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-accidents-and-safety-statistics   The Department published its Strategic Framework for Road Safety in May 2011. We have since taken a series of important steps to implement proposals set out in the framework. They include steps on all three of the thematic chapters of the framework namely improving road safety together, education, and targeted enforcement and sanctions. Further information on the progress can be found in my recent speech to the Road Safety Foundation at:https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/making-road-safety-pay.

Cycling

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of passenger journeys in the UK were made by bicycle in each of the last five years; and what share of his Department's spending related to cycling in that time period.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The table below shows the percentage of all trips made by bicycle between 2009 and 2013:Average number of trips (trip rates) by main mode: England, to 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Bicycle1615161714All modes974961950950923Cycling mode share % 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Soure: NTS, Last updated: 29 July 2014During the five financial years 2010/11 to 2014/15, departmental spending on cycling is detailed in the table below:Financial years 2010/11 - 2014/15  Direct funding £224 million £millionCycling Englad63.0Cycling Cities & National Parks Fund94.0Links to Schools & Linking Communities28.5Cycle Safety Fund35.0Cycle Rail14.5Highways Agency4.8Local Sustainable Transport Fund - Bikeability46.8Local Sustainable Transport Fund - other cycling151.0Total437.6 The £438 million on cycling spend represents 0.71% of the total departmental spend for those years.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Afghanistan

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the (a) total Allied and (b) UK financial contribution to the Afghan National Security Forces will be in the current year; and how much is pledged for each contribution in each of the next three years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 4 September 2014 at the NATO Wales Summit NATO allies and ISAF partners renewed their financial commitments to support the sustainment of the ANSF, including to the end of 2017. At the Wales summit the UK confirmed in principle an annual financial contribution of £70 million to help train the ANSF until at least 2017. This is part of an overall commitment from the international community of around $5 billion per year for the next three years. The majority of this will be provided by the US who have requested up to $4.1 billion in their 2015 budget.

Gibraltar: Spain

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he is satisfied with the speed of border crossings between Spain and Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: No. Delays at the Gibraltar-Spain border have been causing inconvenience for EU citizens over the past 18 months. We have made clear to Spain at the highest level that these delays are unacceptable. The European Commission has confirmed our view, stating that checks giving rise to waiting several hours to cross the border are ‘disproportionate’. We are working with the European Commission to ensure that Spain implements the recommendations it has received on improving the flow of people and traffic.

Syria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the ease with which Syrian nationals can cross the Lebanese border.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Lebanon is currently hosting over 1.3million refugees and has shown enormous generosity in welcoming those in need which the UK has consistently welcomed.The Lebanese cabinet agreed new guidelines on Syrian refugees on 23 October saying that new arrivals would be restricted to "special humanitarian cases". The Government of Lebanon is also trying to reduce numbers of refugees already inside Lebanon, partly by encouraging displaced Syrians to return to their or another country. We assess that current restrictions have resulted in a reduction of 75% in those entering Lebanon over the last month.The UK continues to urge Lebanon not to return Syrian refugees as we do not judge it safe to do so at present.The UK has so far committed £140m in humanitarian and development assistance to Lebanon since the start of the Syria crisis, much of which is to assist with refugees.

Syria

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help civilians affected by the ongoing violence in Kobane, Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Reports from Kobane continue to be deeply concerning and we are watching the situation closely. Over recent days, however, the defenders of Kobane, supported by coalition airstrikes, have been able to hold their position against ISIL, and in some areas they are pushing back. The Department for International Development has already responded to the urgent needs of Syrian Kurdish refugees that have fled to Turkey and stands ready to respond positively should further aid be needed.

Colombia

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on which UK companies operate in Colombia.

Mr Hugo Swire: The information we hold on UK-affiliated companies operating in Colombia includes: company name, sector, postal address, e-mail address, locality of operations, contact names and phone numbers.UK-affiliated companies operating in Colombia are not required to register with the British Embassy and we therefore only hold information on those companies that have voluntarily registered with us.

Iran

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will meet the hon. Member for Lagan Valley to discuss the refusal of the government of Iran to accept a delegation of UK parliamentarians in October 2014.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I would be happy to meet with the hon. Member for Lagan Valley to discuss this matter

Iran

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on reopening the Iranian Embassy in London.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government remains committed to improving our bilateral relationship with Iran. We intend to reopen our Embassy in Tehran once some outstanding issues have been resolved and anticipate that the Iranian Government will wish to reopen its Embassy in London in parallel.  The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to work closely with other government departments on these and other issues concerning the UK/Iran bilateral relationship.

Iran

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what priority his Department accords to (a) human rights and religious freedoms and (b) other matters in its bilateral negotiations with Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The human rights situation in Iran remains dire. As a designated "Country of Concern" on human rights, we are determined to hold the Iranian Government to account and to encourage urgently needed improvements to guarantee the rights of all Iranians. The UK most recently raised the human rights situation in Iran, including religious freedoms, during Iran’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council on 31 October. We are seeking to improve our relationship with Iran, on a step by step basis, for the benefit of both our countries. There will continue to be areas where Iran and the UK have sharp disagreements, particularly on human rights. But increasing our bilateral engagement will better equip us to discuss these differences. the UK's non-resident Chargé d’Affaires last discussed human rights in detail during his visit to Iran earlier this year.

Intelligence Services: Electronic Surveillance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to paragraph 58 of the Respondents' Open Response to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal Case No. IPT/13/92/CH and Case No. IPT/13/77/CH, and to paragraph 4 of the summary of a closed door meeting held as part of the IPT given to Privacy International, what formal arrangements are in place to ensure the Wilson Doctrine is not infringed in cases where a foreign intelligence agency intercepts unanalysed material which may be passed on to UK intelligence agencies.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I am unable to comment on an ongoing legal case. However, UK intelligence agencies do not use partnerships with foreign intelligence agencies to circumvent UK law.

Israel

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the consequences of President Abbas' statement that the temporary closure of Temple Mount was a declaration of war.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are deeply concerned by increased tensions and violence around the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif. We believe it is vital that the longstanding status quo is preserved. We encourage all parties and leaders to take actions and use words which will encourage calm and decrease tensions.

Iran

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Iran's support for international terror groups has been raised in talks between Iran and the P5+1.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: E3+3 negotiations with Iran focus purely on the nuclear issue. Iran’s support for designated terrorist groups such as the military wings of Hizballah and Hamas, as well as other militant groups across the Middle East, do not form part of E3+3 discussions with Iran, although they may be discussed bilaterally in the margins between individual E3+3 members and Iran.

Department for International Development

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout her Department's buildings and sites; if she will estimate the proportion of lighting in her Department which is LED; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The estimated proportion of LED lighting at both UK sites is 5%. LEDs have already been installed on a trial basis to monitor reductions in Greenhouse Gas emissions and also cost savings. If savings prove significant then we will consider rolling out more LED lighting across the organisation.

West Africa

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that its programmes in West Africa do not create perverse incentives which prioritise short-term outcomes rather than longer-term strengthening strategies.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID always considers the longer term development impact when developing our programmes. Operational Plans, setting out how DFID’s programmes will deliver results and measure progress up to 2015 for our country office programmes in West Africa (Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone), can be found on the website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/operational-plans-2013 .   DFID does carry out humanitarian programmes to address short term needs but we also have longer term development programmes designed to build resilience. Full details of our programmes can be found on Development Tracker.

India

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her Indian counterpart following the decision of that country to restrict foreign funding to civil society organisations operating in India.

Mr Desmond Swayne: There has been no decision by the Indian Government to restrict funding.

Department for Education

Schools

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to update the Accountability System Statement outlining the roles and responsibilities for school oversight.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education’s System Accountability Statement is currently under routine review. We expect to publish an update to the existing statement by the end of the year.

Primary Education: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the requirement for primary school places in Warrington in the next five years.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education collects information from local authorities on the number of school places in state-funded primary and secondary schools and local authorities’ own pupil forecasts as part of the annual School Capacity Collection. The most recent data available relates to the position at May 2013, with primary forecasts through to 2017/18, and is published online at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-capacity-academic-year-2012-to-2013The Department has estimated that Warrington local authority needs 270 additional primary places to meet demand in 2015/16. Warrington local authority has reported that there are 980 new places planned for delivery between 2013/14 and 2015/16. This information, along with technical notes, is published in the Local Authority Basic Need Scorecards which is published online at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/primary-school-places-local-authority-basic-need-scorecardsThe Department provides capital funding to local authorities in line with the estimated level of need in each local authority. Warrington has been allocated a total of £6 million for the period 2011-2015 and a further £8.6 million for 2015-2017 to help create the additional school places that will be needed by September 2017.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many places from the initial allocation were relinquished by School Direct in the 2013-14 admissions year.

Mr David Laws: In the 2013/14 academic year we allocated extra School Direct requests, as well as allowing relinquishments. The School Direct initial allocations were 9,441 and the final allocations 9,586, meaning the net change for School Direct was an extra 145 places allocated throughout the year.The initial and final allocations for the 2014/15 academic year are both published on the NCTL/Gov.uk website:www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-allocations-for-academic-year-2013-to-2014-finalThe Department for Education does not hold information on relinquishments in the format requested. The National College for Teaching and Leadership plans to publish updated management information by the end of December 2014. This will include line by line initial and final allocations by school (and provider) by subject and will enable the calculation of relinquishments.

Teachers: Recruitment

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many places were allocated to School Direct for recruitment in the 2014-15 acacemic year.

Mr David Laws: The initial allocations for School Direct for the academic year were 15,254.The initial allocations for the 2014/15 academic year were published in October 2013 and are published online at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-allocations-for-academic-year-2014-to-2015

Priority School Building Programme

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in each region and constituent part of the UK are on the Priority School Building Programme.

Mr David Laws: The Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) is a centrally managed programme set up to address the needs of the schools most in need of urgent repair. Through the programme, 261 schools will be rebuilt or have their condition needs met by the Education Funding Agency (EFA).The first school opened in May 2014 and all schools within the programme will be delivered by the end of 2017, two years earlier than originally announced.A full list of the schools in the programme, by region, is published online at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276240/psbp_-_schools_prioritised_for_the_programme.pdf

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Squirrels

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the Government review of the Forestry Commission's policy on grey squirrels.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State asked the Forestry Commission to review the policy for grey squirrels in England set out in the document published in January 2006 entitled ‘Grey Squirrels and England’s Woodlands: Policy and Action’ with a view to making improvements where necessary. Following a stakeholder meeting earlier this year and other information received and researched Government is considering advice from the Forestry Commission on the future of grey squirrel policy in England.At the UK level Government has signed the Squirrel Accord which will draw together UK organisations involved in both red squirrel conservation and grey squirrel control for protection of woodlands under a common aim. Defra and Forestry Commission are working with the Red Squirrel Survival Trust and others on an effective system for administering and supporting the Accord going forward.

Squirrels

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the use of warfarin in controlling grey squirrel numbers.

George Eustice: Warfarin was until recently approved for use in plant protection products against grey squirrels. That approval expired on 31 March 2014, although if purchased before that date it may be used until 30 September 2015. A new application for approval may be submitted at any time. Defra would like people to have the tools that they need to control grey squirrels. However, it is a commercial decision for the company that manufactures the product whether to apply for approval. Warfarin remains approved for indoor use in biocidal products for control of grey squirrels which may find their way into property and cause a nuisance.

Insecticides

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to check and certify the online selling of Chlorpyrifos.

Dan Rogerson: Plant protection products (essentially agricultural and horticultural pesticides) may not be placed on the market or used unless they have been authorised. Authorisations include statutory conditions of use which must be followed to ensure that these products are used safely. National pesticides legislation subjects internet sales of pesticides to all the same legal obligations as over-the-counter sales. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the UK pesticides regulator, follows up any concerns raised on internet sales with sellers where possible, to ensure internet sales comply with legal requirements. In order to support compliance with the law, the pesticides distribution sector has produced best practice guidance to raise awareness amongst distributors selling pesticides on the internet.

Common Agricultural Policy

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of greening measures included in reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on UK farming.

George Eustice: An assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of Greening in England was published in the evidence paper which accompanied the consultation of the Common Agricultural Policy in October 2013. A revised assessment will be published alongside the associated Statutory Instruments towards the end of the year.The Crop Diversification requirement was assessed to affect 7% of farms, containing 12% of the arable area. The costs in terms of foregone production were estimated to lie between £12.3m and £99.5m per annum, with a central estimate of £55.9m.The Ecological Focus Area requirement was assessed to affect between 20% and 40% of farms, containing between 30% and 50% of the arable area. The costs in terms of foregone production were estimated to lie between £24.6m and £49.2m per annum.The evidence paper was published here:https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agricultural-policy/cap-consultation/supporting_documents/131022%20CAP%20Evidence%20Paper%20%20Final.pdf

Agriculture: Subsidies

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much in Single Farm Payment was paid to farm businesses in each county of Northern Ireland in the last year for which data is available.

George Eustice: The administration of the Single Payment Scheme within countries in the UK is a devolved issue and therefore the operation of the Scheme in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Department for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Animal Welfare

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of co-operation between the devolved administrations and her Department in tackling animal cruelty crimes.

George Eustice: Animal welfare matters are devolved and no specific assessment of the effectiveness of co-operation between the devolved administrations and Defra has been made. However, we have regular dialogue with colleagues in the devolved administrations on issues relating to animal welfare.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on beak trimming; and what assessment her Department has made of the results of Bristol University's recent research on this topic.

George Eustice: The Government is working with the Beak Trimming Action Group (BTAG), which includes representatives from industry, welfare groups and scientists, to find ways to manage flocks of laying hens without the need to trim beaks. As part of this process, Defra is currently funding a peer reviewed research study by the University of Bristol to assess the effectiveness of management strategies in reducing injurious pecking in non-beak trimmed laying hens. Our intention is to consider all available advice and evidence, including the outcome of the on-going research study, in the review we are conducting in 2015.

Milk: Prices

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with farming organisations in Wales about changes in the price of milk.

George Eustice: I chair regular meetings of the Dairy Supply Chain Forum which includes key representatives from the whole of the supply chain, including colleagues from Wales and from the farming industry. The next meeting is on 19 November. It will focus on the key issues and opportunities that the dairy sector is facing, including the latest market situation. In addition, Defra officials maintain regular contact with their counterparts in Wales on a range of dairy issues.

Milk: Prices

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the causes of recent changes in the price of milk.

George Eustice: Milk prices are falling as a result of the ban on dairy imports to Russia and falling returns from global commodity markets. Despite these challenges, the long-term outlook for UK dairying remains positive. Over the next decade, the UK dairy industry estimates global demand to rise by 2.5% a year with growing world incomes and an expanding population. UK dairy exports are already at record levels and we will continue to encourage and support our domestic farmers and processors to develop their businesses.

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on legal fees over prevention of release of information requested by Freedom of Information requests since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: The Department does not hold the information requested. Legal expenditure is not broken down in this way.

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Freedom of Information requests her Department has declined to answer in full since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: This information is included in Freedom of Information statistics published on the Internet: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics#2014

Mobile Phones

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on iPhones in each year since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: iPhones are not approved devices for use in Core Defra. The Department has therefore incurred no spend.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy Companies Obligation

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the savings energy companies have passed onto consumers following the changes to the Energy Company Obligation that were announced in the Autumn Statement 2013.

Amber Rudd: On 22 July the Government published The Future of the Energy Company Obligation: Final Impact Assessment:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-of-the-energy-company-obligation.Data showing how the six largest energy companies are achieving their reductions has been published by them and is available from the website of Energy UK:http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/policy/energy-efficiency/energy-companies-obligation.html.

Energy Companies Obligation

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the report by the Association for the Conservation of Energy on differences between the savings (a) for energy companies and (b) passed on to consumers of the changes to the Energy Companies Obligation announced in the 2013 Autumn Statement.

Amber Rudd: The Government response to the consultation on the changes to ECO, and the Final Impact Assessment, were published on 22 July:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-of-the-energy-company-obligation.It is difficult for DECC to quantify any additional benefits, and DECC is not in a position to make or validate any specific estimate, of the kind put forward by the Association for the Conservation of Energy.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the contingent liability is in respect of future financial years of payment under the non-domestic renewable heat incentive scheme.

Amber Rudd: The non-domestic renewable heat incentive scheme provides financial support for renewable heat technologies for the lifetime of the installation, up to a maximum of 20 years. The forecast committed annual expenditure for the non-domestic renewable heat incentive scheme as of 31/09/2014 is £186.8 million, as calculated per the RHI degression methodology1.

Carbon Emissions

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the social cost per tonne of emitted carbon his Department uses to judge the cost benefit of energy policies.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



DECC has published a set of carbon values to be used in policy appraisal across government. These values are publically available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuation-of-energy-use-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions-for-appraisal.These carbon values relate to the estimated cost of mitigating emissions consistent with the UK’s short and long-term greenhouse gas emissions targets.For appraising policies that reduce or increase emissions in sectors covered by the EU Emissions Trading System, a ‘traded price of carbon’ is used. This is based on estimates of the future price of emissions allowances and, in the longer term, estimates of future global carbon market prices. For policies not covered by the EU ETS, a ‘non-traded price of carbon’ is used, based on estimates of the cost of action required to meet wider emissions reduction targets.



Valuation of energy use & GHG emissions
(PDF Document, 1.28 MB)




Background guidance: valuation of energy use & GHG
(PDF Document, 1.18 MB)

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the use of water for hydraulic fracking on the general supply and cost of water.

Matthew Hancock: Shale gas development is still at a very early stage in the UK. The Government is committed to making the most of the opportunity it presents and is supporting the industry’s exploration activity to establish the potential of shale.Water for hydraulic fracturing may be obtained from the local water supply company or taken from surface or groundwater if permitted by the relevant environment regulator. The environmental regulator checks the potential impact on groundwater of any fracking operations, ahead of any fracking taking place, and will only grant a licence to an operator to abstract water where a sustainable water supply is available. The application will be assessed in the same way as any other application from industry or business.Water companies must also produce, and then update every 5 years, a long-term plan with contingency reserves in case of a drought. Water companies will assess the amount of water available before providing it to operators.The water industry and operators have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding to engage early and share plans for water demand and waste management.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what his policy is on requiring companies to inform people about fracking under their home or land.

Matthew Hancock: Companies seeking planning permission to exploit oil or natural gas are legally required to give notice of an application to owners or tenants of any of the land to which the application relates. If the development of a particular piece of land is underground only, the company is required to publish a notice in a local newspaper and put up a local site notice in each parish or ward in which the land is situated. Mineral Planning Authorities advertise and consult upon the planning applications that they receive.The Environment Agency also publishes details of applications by companies for environmental permits on their website for public consultation. The onshore oil and gas industry, under UK Onshore Oil and Gas guidelines, has also agreed to publish information on its website; for example, industry will publish all chemicals that are used in hydraulic fracturing by composition and maximum concentration.We are currently legislating to provide the right to use deep-level land for the purposes of exploiting petroleum and deep geothermal energy. As part of this, industry has committed to establish a public notification system to notify communities of works taking place at depth, outlining the area of underground land accessed, and the payment to be made to landowners under whose land the right of use is exercised. We are including in the Infrastructure Bill a reserve power for a statutory notification scheme, if industry commitments to a voluntary notification scheme are not met.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the potential effect the investor protection clause of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will have on the number of legal challenges to the fracking industry.

Matthew Hancock: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is under development, and it is too early to assess the likelihood of legal challenges to shale development based on the investor protection clause.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether he plans to make Government subsidies available to the fracking industry during exploration, gas extraction and land reclamation.

Priti Patel: I have been asked to reply.The Government does not propose to make any subsidies available to the onshore oil and gas industry.Along with our EU partners in the G20, the UK uses the following definition of a fossil fuel subsidy: "A fossil fuel subsidy is any government measure or programme with the objective or direct consequence of reducing, below world-market prices, including all costs of transport, refining and distribution, the effective cost of fossil fuels paid by final consumers, or of reducing the costs or increasing the revenues of fossil-fuel producing companies".Under this definition the UK has no fossil fuel subsidies. At Autumn Statement 2013, the Government introduced the onshore allowance to incentivise early exploration in shale gas. The allowance exempts a portion of a company’s profits, equal to 75% of capital expenditure the company incurs, from the supplementary charge. The allowance reduces the tax rate on that portion from 62% to 30%. We do not consider differential rates of tax to be a subsidy. Companies continue to pay Ring Fence Corporation Tax (which is higher than the main Corporation Tax rate) even where income is covered by the allowance.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what contingency plans his Department has in place for clean-up after fracking activity in the event that small fracking companies go bankrupt or refuse to take responsibility for any necessary cleaning.

Matthew Hancock: Prior to awarding a licence, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) assesses whether a company has adequate financial capacity for its planned operations, including decommissioning. DECC further checks at the drilling and, where relevant, production stages that sufficient funding and appropriate insurance is in place.If a company causes damage, harm, or pollution to the environment, companies can be required to remediate the effects and prevent further damage or pollution.Environmental regulators and planning authorities have powers to require upfront financial bonds to address risks surrounding environmental damages, wherever they deem this necessary. In addition, DECC has been discussing with the industry’s trade body, UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG), industry arrangements to ensure that site restoration and aftercare will be ensured, even in the event that the operator goes out of business.

Fracking

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will take steps to ensure that independent monitoring of drill sites and their effect on public health and local geology takes place.

Matthew Hancock: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) scrutinises well design and monitors its progress to ensure the operator manages risks effectively throughout the life cycle of the well. The well design is scrutinised by HSE through the well notification system before construction. HSE also monitor well construction based on weekly reports to its well specialists. Any significant changes to well construction are subject to the same scrutiny. An independent well examiner will also review the design and construction of the well. To date onshore operators have used separate companies to supply this service, they have not been delivered in-house.Public Health England has reviewed the potential public health impact of direct emissions of chemicals and radioactive material from the extraction of shale gas. The report concluded that the potential risks to public health from exposure to the emissions associated with shale gas extraction will be low if the operations are properly run and regulated.Once drilling has commenced, there is a further system for monitoring and regulating risk. Well operators have a legal duty to manage and control the risks to people, so far as is reasonably practicable. The Health and Safety Executive monitors well construction and decommissioning operations to check these legal duties are met. The environmental regulator will monitor the environmental impacts through monitoring and inspections of the operator’s reports. In some cases, depending on the risks presented by a site or community concerns, they may undertake extra monitoring themselves. Conditions attached to permits will give the minimum level of site-based monitoring and reporting.

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of renewable electricity and renewable heat was supplied by biomass fuelled technologies in the last year for which figures are available.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



In 2013, biomass fuelled technologies (animal and plant biomass, and co-firing) supplied 18 per cent of renewable electricity generation and 76 per cent of renewable heat consumption.Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2014, tables 6.4 and 6.6, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to paragraph 4.6.25 of the Consultation Document on UK Renewable Energy Strategy, published on 26 June 2008, what plans his Department has to consult on (a) an MOT-type scheme for biomass boilers and (b) other arrangements to maintain emission standards.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 05 November 2014



Given the wide range of technologies supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), we do not think it is practical to specify in legislation a particular level of maintenance or frequency of servicing. We believe that including such a provision risks being excessively burdensome or possibly misleading. The RHI requirement is that the equipment is maintained in line with manufacturer instructions. All products and installations under the RHI are covered under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, which requires the provision of manufacturer instructions.In our Government response to the RHI consultation in February 2013 ‘Providing Certainty, Improving Performance’ we set out our plans to introduce air quality emissions limits. Following this, air quality limits were introduced to the non-domestic RHI in September 2013, and the domestic RHI April 2014. We remain committed to reviewing these limits in the future.Biomass boilers 1-50MW are covered under the Medium Sized Combustion Directive which is currently under negotiation in the EU. Defra, as lead department on air pollution, has been consulting on an ongoing basis with a number of stakeholders on a range of matters relating to these proposals. For boilers up to 500KW, emission limits were agreed as part of EU Ecodesign Regulations following stakeholder consultation.

Energy Supply

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the security of the electricity supply for (a) businesses and (b) data centres in winter 2014-15.

Matthew Hancock: On 28 October, National Grid published its annual Winter Outlook 2014 report, which analyses the current level of security of electricity supply in Great Britain. This includes an estimate of peak electricity demand for this winter, but no separate assessment is published for businesses or data centres.In order to ensure security of supply for all businesses, households and industry, National Grid announced it will procure 1.1GW of additional de-rated capacity through Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) and Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) for the winter of 2014/15.DECC supports the decisive action taken by National Grid and Ofgem which will mean we have secure electricity supplies, even with further unexpected outages or a very cold winter.

Energy Supply

Dr William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to reduce the risk of electricity blackouts during winter 2014-15.

Matthew Hancock: On 28 October National Grid announced that it will procure 1.1 GW of additional de-rated capacity though Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) and Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR) for the winter of 2014/15. DECC supports the decisive action taken by National Grid and Ofgem and views the amount procured as a sensible and prudent step in order to provide the necessary degree of resilience for times of very high demand.This action will increase capacity margins from around 4% to over 6%; a higher level than we had between 2005/06 and 2007/8 and well within the Government’s reliability standard.This means that we will continue to benefit from secure electricity supplies even with further unexpected outages or a very cold winter.

Energy: Housing

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.

Amber Rudd: The Government has a range of initiatives to help consumers take control of their energy bills by making energy efficiency improvements. These include the Green Deal, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, Green Deal Communities and the Energy Company Obligation.   These initiatives supported the improvement of over 790,000 homes between January 2013 and August 2014, and we are on track to meet our target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015.Vouchers issued through the popular first phase of GDHIF have resulted in an on-going pipeline of work that is improving homes and we expect around 20,000 households will benefit.An additional £100 million for UK household energy efficiency announced last month will be used to launch a new phase of GDHIF later this month. This is in addition to providing longer term certainty for the market through the extension of ECO until 2017.

Housing: Energy

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to help households improve their energy efficiency.

Amber Rudd: The Government has a range of initiatives to help consumers take control of their energy bills by making energy efficiency improvements. These include the Green Deal, the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, Green Deal Communities and the Energy Company Obligation.   These initiatives supported the improvement of over 790,000 homes between January 2013 and August 2014, and we are on track to meet our target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015.Vouchers issued through the popular first phase of GDHIF have resulted in an on-going pipeline of work that is improving homes and we expect around 20,000 households will benefit.An additional £100 million for UK household energy efficiency announced last month will be used to launch a new phase of GDHIF later this month. This is in addition to providing longer term certainty for the market through the extension of ECO until 2017.

Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register

Julie Elliott: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will publish the results of the Government's 2009 consultation on the edited version of the electoral register and the Government's response to it.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This was a consultation that was carried out by the last Government and the current Government has no plans to publish either the results or a response.

Attorney General

Cybercrime: Prosecutions

Julie Hilling: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2014, to Question 212020, how many successful prosecutions were made for cybercrimes in each year since 2009.

Jeremy Wright: The Crown Prosecution Service does not centrally record the number of prosecutions initiated, or those which resulted in a successful outcome, relating to cyber or cyber-enabled crime. A number of offences may involve the use of a computer or a network in the commission of the offence. To obtain details of the number of cases where defendants were alleged to have been involved in cyber or cyber-enabled crimes would require a manual review of individual case files to be undertaken which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Wales Office

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Alun Cairns: The Wales Office does not currently have LED lighting in its buildings. The Department plans to change the lighting in all existing desk lamps and wall lights to LED lighting in the current financial year.

Ministry of Justice

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff from which prisons were dismissed for conducting inappropriate relationships with prisoners in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Andrew Selous: The definition of an inappropriate relationship is any relationship with prisoners, ex prisoners, partners, immediate family or close associates involved in criminal activities if not formally declared to the Governor or Head of NOMS unit as a potential ‘Conflict of Interest’. The information setting out how many prison staff were dismissed from each establishment solely for having an inappropriate relationship with a Prisoner(s)* is set out in the tables below: 2010Prison Number of DismissalsHMYOI Aylesbury1HMP&YOI Brinsford1HMYOI Feltham2HMP Highpoint1HMP Leicester1HMP Maidstone1HMP Send1HMP Wandsworth1HMPYOI Warren Hill1HMP Wormwood Scrubs2TOTAL12   2011Prison Number of DismissalsHMP Acklington1HMP Coldingley1HMP Dorchester1HMP Downview2HMP Full Sutton1HMP Garth1HMP& YOI Isis1HMP Lindholme1HMP Morton Hall1HMP Pentonville2HMP Preston1HMYOI Rochester1TOTAL14  2012Prison Number of DismissalsHMP Blantyre House1HMP Brixton2HMP Durham1HMP Hewell2HMP Holloway1HMP Lincoln1HMP Send1HMP Wellingborough1HMYOI Wetherby1TOTAL11  2013Prison Number of DismissalsHMP Downview1HMP Erlestoke1HMP Frankland1HMP High Down1HMP Holloway1HMP Hull1HMP Liverpool1HMP Long Lartin1HMP New Hall1HMP Northumberland1HMYOI Portland1HMP Preston1HMP Wandsworth1HMPYOI Warren Hill1HMP Whatton1TOTAL15  *The information provided has been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Speed Limits: Fines

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drivers were fined for speeding in each police force area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The number of offenders fined for speeding offences, by police force area, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013 (the latest available) can be viewed in the table.Offenders fined at all courts for speeding (1) offences, by police force area, England and Wales, 2009 to 2013 (2)(3)(4)Police Force Area20092010201120122013  Metropolitan Police9,6498,7028,8779,0257,736Cumbria2,0091,5421,2121,2771,473Lancashire5,7194,5144,6994,3125,651Merseyside1,6272,5292,4122,0782,545Greater Manchester4,2596,7168,3195,8215,964Cheshire2,6972,8622,1812,1511,788Northumbria2,6882,9192,3452,5812,160Durham486401555411469North Yorkshire2,1921,5831,4781,6801,776West Yorkshire4,9514,4293,6684,3744,567South Yorkshire1,5912,6023,1393,4933,511Humberside3,2542,6492,6802,8153,046Cleveland5196581,1291,197813West Midlands4,2164,0012,2031,4441,442Staffordshire2,6673,1932,8614,0655,164West Mercia1,8852,5802,6782,1152,598Warwickshire1,2491,8482,5832,3272,778Derbyshire1,4929268541,0071,075Nottinghamshire2,9532,6962,5543,0462,900Lincolnshire3,3162,2412,8003,3083,179Leicestershire2,6091,8731,4172,2112,253Northamptonshire1,3551,329822595521Cambridgeshire3,3552,4832,4333,5292,831Norfolk2,6032,7632,1362,3071,675Suffolk3,4841,9782,7492,2112,114Bedfordshire1,8901,3461,1412,3341,553Hertfordshire3,2182,8412,2222,4271,983Essex4,0683,4833,3971,7193,091Thames Valley6,1435,3674,9896,4714,466Hampshire3,6653,4004,0572,7783,667Surrey2,6112,1692,6423,5843,134Kent2,6523,1503,0363,3623,915Sussex2,8962,6412,4492,8411,976City of London (5)507323732..Devon and Cornwall2,7922,0031,9442,2822,410Avon and Somerset4,5874,1174,7982,5903,925Gloucestershire712380723697561Wiltshire4,5533,720856719406Dorset1,5881,6931,5111,3491,172North Wales3,4563,0801,6961,4661,744Gwent1,2721,3801,4141,9022,486South Wales2,1182,1812,6475,1526,491Dyfed-Powys1,0019881,1531,4682,540  England and Wales122,554114,279110,191112,521115,549'-' = Nil   (1) Offences under SS16, 81, 84, 86, 88 & 89 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984   (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.  (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (4) The category Otherwise Dealt With (ODW) includes: one day in police cells; disqualification order; restraining order; confiscation order; travel restriction order; disqualification from driving; recommendation for deportation; and other miscellaneous disposals.  (5) City of London Local Justice area ceased to exist with effect from 1 January 2012  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.  Ref: PQ212647

Driving Offences

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) convictions and (b) fixed penalty notices there have been following arrests for speeding offences in England and Wales (i) in total and (ii) on (A) the A143 and (B) the A14 in each year since 1997.

Mike Penning: The total number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences relating to speeding offences, in England & Wales, from 1997 to 2013 (the latest available), can be viewed in table 1. Data on fixed penalty notices for speed limit offences in England and Wales from 1997 to 2012 (the latest available), provided by the Home Office, can be viewed in the table 2. Data for 2013 is scheduled for publication in Spring 2015. From centrally reported data it is not possible to separately identify fixed penalty notices issued for speeding on specific roads.



speeding offences
(Excel SpreadSheet, 43 KB)

Fixed Penalties

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of each category of fixed penalty notices were (a) issued and (b) paid in each month since their introduction in (i) Bury St Edmunds, (ii) Suffolk, (iii) the East of England and (iv) England and Wales.

Mike Penning: The Government has recently unveiled plans that would see an end to Penalty Notices for Disorder and a range of other Out of Court Disposals, including cautions. The aim is to ensure that there are more direct consequences in future for committing even minor crimes. The new approach will be trialled in three police force areas over the next 12 months. This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the amount of financial penalties collected over the last three years. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer. The number of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued to all persons aged 16 and over from 2005 to 2013 with outcomes can be viewed as follows:- Data for the Suffolk Police Force Area can be viewed in Table 1 Data for the East of England can be viewed in Table 2 Data for England and Wales as a whole can be viewed in Table 3 Data on fixed penalty notices for motoring offences broken down by month are not collected centrally by the Home Office. When PNDs and FPNs are not paid within the prescribed time limits they are registered as fines for enforcement by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). Once PNDs and FPNs are registered as fines it is not possible to identify these separately from other court imposed fines so it is not known how many have been paid. Fine registered PNDs and FPNs are enforced in the same way as all other court imposed financial impositions.



Penalty Notices for Disorder issued 2005-2013
(Excel SpreadSheet, 48.55 KB)

Driving Under the Influence: Reoffenders

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drivers convicted of driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs had previous convictions for the same offence in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk, (c) the East of England and (d) England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The number of drivers convicted of driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and who had previous convictions for the same offence in Suffolk, the East of England and England and Wales in each of the last five years, are given in Table 1. Offenders in Bury St Edmunds alone cannot be identified from the Police National Computer. The Ministry of Justice’s extract of the Police National Computer, which is used for all analyses of offenders’ histories, only holds details on convictions given for recordable offences and does not generally include non-recordable summary offences usually heard in Magistrates courts.



DUI convictions
(Excel SpreadSheet, 32.5 KB)

Prisoner Escapes

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisoners have been on the run since April 2004; what offence each such prisoner had committed; how long each prisoner's sentence was; and how long each prisoner had served before absconding.

Andrew Selous: I have already committed to writing to the Honourable Member on this issue in a previous question and will do so shortly, once final checks with police and victim groups have been completed.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will issue guidance to operators of (a) courts and (b) prisons that they should implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting in those buildings.

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to introduce LED lighting throughout his Department's buildings and sites; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in his Department which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.Reporting against the Greening Government Commitment (GGC) targets, in 2013/14, the Department reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2012/13 against the 2009/10 baseline. This equates to a 95057 tCO2e reduction. As part of its programme to replace inefficient lighting at its sites the Department will continue to install LEDs and other forms of energy saving lighting wherever it is possible and economically viable to do so. Information on the proportion of sites that have LED lighting is not recorded centrally. As the MOJ has one of the largest estates in Government comprising nearly 1,500 properties (including prisons and courts), the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. In addition to replacing inefficient lighting, the Ministry of Justice is also reducing greenhouse gas emissions through using energy saving measures such as motion-activated lighting, timers and behavioural change campaigns.

Victim Support Schemes

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what services aimed at giving victims of crime practical and emotional support have been introduced since 1 October 2012.

Mike Penning: The Government is committed to putting victims and witnesses first in the criminal justice system and ensuring that they have access to high quality support to help them to cope with and, as far as is possible, recover from the impacts of crime. That is why we implemented a new “Victims’ Code” in December 2013, which gives victims of crime clearer entitlements from criminal justice agencies and better tailors services to individual need.The Government appointed Baroness Newlove as Victims’ Commissioner on 21st December 2012. She is committed to making a difference for victims and improving their experience of the criminal justice system. The MoJ published a witness charter at the end of 2013, clearly setting out the standards of service witnesses can expect at all stages, and has brought in a range of special measures to support victims and witnesses to give their best evidence and to help reduce some of the anxiety of attending court. This includes, giving evidence by live video-link, the use of screens in court, and the use of an intermediary to help a witness understand the questions they are being asked and to give their answers accurately. In our July 2014 update to the “Transforming the CJS: Strategy and Action Plan”, one of our main priorities is to improve the experience of victims and witnesses in the CJS. This means supporting victims through the CJS process and making fair and respectful treatment of victims and witnesses the norm. In September 2014, the Government published a document outlining its commitment to victims. This outlines five commitments to help victims of crime navigate the criminal justice system, access the information and support they need, protect vulnerable victims and witnesses in court, and to guarantee their rights in law.More money than ever before will be available for services to support victims of crime, with a potential total budget of up to £100m per year, an increase from £40m in 2009/10 and doubled from £50m in 2010/11. The majority of services being funded will be commissioned locally by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) whilst the MoJ continues to commission some services nationally:Since 1st October 2014, PCCs have been responsible for commissioning the majority of victims’ services (including victim-initiated restorative justice) for their areas, as they are best placed to understand the needs of their local communities. Details of the funding that the MoJ has provided to PCCs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/victims-and-witnesses-funding-awards#police-and-crime-commissioners-funding-for-victims The MoJ continues to nationally commission some victims’ services. The Female Rape Support Fund will provide £4.4m per year in funding to 86 centres until at least March 2016. Under this fund, the Government has now met its commitment to commission 15 new rape support centres. The MoJ has re-commissioned the national Homicide Service, which became operational on 1st October 2014. This service supports families bereaved by murder or manslaughter after 2010. The MoJ is also in the process of re-commissioning the Court based Witness Service and has recently announced a £0.65m grant for 2014/15, and a further £0.65m in 2015/16, for the provision of dedicated support for male victims of rape and sexual violence. By March 2015, a new ‘Victims’ Information Service’ will be set up. This will include a helpline to make sure victims are guided to nearby support; and a website where victims can find information about services in their area, restorative justice, the criminal justice system, and their rights under the Victims’ Code and Witness Charter.

Police Cautions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the number of police cautions issued for (a) rape, (b) sexual offences and (c) violent crimes in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. Crime is falling and offenders are going to prison for longer. This Government has taken action to end cautions culture, and to make sure serious offenders do not receive penalties seen as soft options.  We are changing the law to ban ‘simple’ cautions for all of the indictable only offences - the most serious criminal offences which must be tried in the Crown Court including rape, manslaughter and robbery.We are also banning ‘simple’ cautions for possession of any offensive weapon (including a knife), supplying Class A drugs and a range of sexual offences against children, including child prostitution and pornography.We have also outlined a new approach to scrap all cautions, which is being piloted in Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and Leicestershire, with a view to being extended across the country. The current simple cautions are a non-statutory disposal available to the police to dispose of any offence committed by an adult and are designed for dealing with low level, mainly first time offending. The Ministry of Justice issues guidance on the process to be followed by the police when they are administering simple cautions for adult offenders. The latest guidance, issued in November 2013 following the Simple Cautions Review, states that the use of a simple caution for indictable only offences, such as rape, should only be given following authorisation by a senior police officer of at least the rank of Superintendent and the Crown Prosecution Service. These will be cases where there were exceptional circumstances which would mean that it was not in the public interest to prosecute. The Government is legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of cautions for certain serious offences. Information on the number of simple cautions issued for rape, sexual offences and violent crimes, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2013 (the latest available) can be found on the Ministry of Justice website and is available at the following link:-https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311455/cjs-outcomes-by-offence-2009-2013.xls For rape offences Under “Offence” select rape of a female and rape of a male. For sexual offences Under “Offence type” select sexual offences. For violent crimes Under “Offence type” select violence against the person. Further information on Offenders cautioned by sex and type of offence, 2003 to 2013Is available at the following link:-https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2013Under “Out of court disposals” data is available at Table Q2d.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers who have taken voluntary early departure since 2010 have been re-recruited.

Andrew Selous: Up to 30 June 2014, which was the date of the latest published staffing figures, there had been five or fewer prison officers who had taken voluntary early departure since 2010 and since returned to work for the National Offender Management Service.

Legal Aid Scheme

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have represented themselves in court in each year since 2010; and what proportion of such people had previously applied for legal aid for that case.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I refer the honourable gentleman to the linked answer provided to the right honourable member for Tootinghttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-10-21/211297/ We will write to the honourable gentleman at the same time as we write to his right honourable friend.

Prisons: Security

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison cell searches have taken place in each month since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service’s policy on cell searching requires all prisons within the High Security Estate to have in place a routine programme for searching all cells at an agreed frequency. All other establishments are required to have in place a programme of searching based on a risk-assessment of local security needs. In addition, cell searches may be conducted at any time on an intelligence-led basis or on reasonable suspicion that an item of contraband is secreted within a cell. Records of cell searches conducted in prisons are not held centrally. To provide the information requested would involve requesting and collating information held locally at all prisons which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Violence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many violent incidents of each type there have been in the prison system in each month since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: NOMS takes the issue of assaults very seriously. We currently have systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. We are working closely with the police and CPS to develop a new joint protocol to report crimes in prison, which includes pushing for prosecutions when prison staff are attacked. The rate of assaults each year under this Government is lower than any year between 2006-9. The number of assault incidents by type of assault since May 2010 is shown in Table 1. Table 1. Assault incidents by type, May 2010-June 2014, England and Wales  Prisoner on PrisonerPrisoner on OfficerPrisoner on OtherOtherMay-109282151139Jun-109511991245Jul-1010162201375Aug-109542031430Sep-109351971441Oct-109472201751Nov-109181961545Dec-108231591858Jan-119142001642Feb-119272031728Mar-111044212935Apr-11960213841May-1110402251520Jun-1111232211829Jul-1111182491523Aug-1111042521013Sep-111026224198Oct-1110162041211Nov-1110222381310Dec-1110222401318Jan-1210442291511Feb-129652111311Mar-121050210169Apr-12941213126May-121046228229Jun-12962199126Jul-129802401613Aug-121003227207Sep-12949227168Oct-12984241149Nov-128692021816Dec-1279120975Jan-13929191198Feb-13847213138Mar-138732251614Apr-139152331716May-1310282411710Jun-138682392410Jul-1310182813322Aug-1310202591923Sep-139252381416Oct-1310292592019Nov-139742302126Dec-139712341722Jan-149652631523Feb-148982401218Mar-1410212311920Apr-1410162631219May-1410642721628Jun-1410392502423

Prisons: Drugs

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mandatory drug tests have taken place in prisons in each month since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: We take a zero tolerance approach to contraband in prison and use a range of robust security measures to find them, including searches and specially trained dogs. Prisoners who are found with contraband face tough punishments including having their privileges removed and getting time added onto their sentence and may be referred to the police for prosecution. The number of mandatory drug tests that have taken place in prisons in each month since May 2010 is shown in the table below. We are committed to focussing our efforts on preventing drugs from entering custody, an intelligence led approach to using MDT tests most effectively and programmes and support to ensure that prisoners can stay free from drugs in custody. The national positive rate of MDT samples has remained reasonably static since April 2010, with the rate between 7.0% and 7.4%, down from 24.4% in 1996. Mandatory Drug Tests Since May 2010Month20102011201220132014January 8231823678207179February 7944791172956786March 8717833075967001April 7878784674956737May81818310826380716831June80538136768971726572July78338160785571916532August76788187785168856400September7809813776076885 October7784832280697000 November8079833278946670 December7812792675056624  All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Crown Courts: Staff

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2014 to Question 212299, how many witnesses have received support from the court-based Witness Service in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: The Ministry of Justice provides grant funding to Victim Support for the court-based Witness Service to support witnesses at criminal courts in England and Wales. The table below details the breakdown of witnesses supported by the court-based Witness Service in each year since 2009/10. Victim Support continues to support all witnesses who wish to receive support when attending court. YearWitnesses Supported[1]2009/10320,0002010/11268,0002011/12240,0002012/13204,0002013/14199,000  [1] Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand. Figures have been supplied by Victim Support (2009/10-2012/13 figures taken from published Victim Support annual reports; 2013/14 figures have been provided to the Ministry of Justice by Victim Support)

Insolvency

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect of funding changes in insolvency litigation in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 on HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No conversations have taken place between the Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the effects of the no win no fee reforms on insolvency proceedings. Officials are having ongoing discussions with other government departments on issues relating to and arising from the LASPO Act 2012.

Prisons: Pay Television

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners held in contracted-out prisons were eligible to have access to subscription channels provided by British Sky Broadcasting in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (c) 2013.

Andrew Selous: As part of the review of the Incentives and Earned Privileges national policy framework, contracted-out prisons were required to remove subscription television services by 31 July 2013. It would not be possible to provide the information requested without incurring disproportionate cost. However, I am able to inform the hon Member that, as at 14 September 2012, an estimated 2976 prisoners in contracted-out prisons were eligible to access subscription channels provided by British Sky Broadcasting.

Members Estimate Committee

Members: Allowances

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the Members Estimate Committee, when it was determined to shred documentation on expenses claims submitted by hon. Members before 2010; and at what committee or decision-making body such a decision was taken.

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the Members Estimate Committee, which documentation relating to expenses claims submitted by hon. Members in which years have been shredded in the last 12 months.

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the Members Estimate Committee, when the decision to destroy documentation relating to hon. Members' expenses claims from before 2010 was reported to the House.

John Thurso: The House of Commons Commission (which was responsible for Members Estimate matters prior to the establishment of the Members Estimate Committee in 2004) agreed at its meeting of 21 October 2002 to implement a retention policy for financial papers, which would entail detailed claims, receipts, invoices and warrants being retained for three years after the end of the year of the transaction. This included documentation relating to Members’ allowances. The policy was incorporated into the Authorised Records Disposal Practice (ARDP) produced by the Parliamentary Archives and made available to Members and staff of both Houses on the parliamentary intranet in 2004. Decisions made by the House of Commons Commission and the Members Estimate Committee are published on the Parliament website.Destruction of these records was paused in 2010 pending the conclusion of police inquiries, but was restarted on the previous basis in 2012 once legal proceedings were concluded. The only documentation destroyed in the last 12 months in relation to Members’ expenses has been background information to support claims, which was no longer needed after the 2010 general election when the House ceased to be responsible for expenses claims. This was done in April 2014.While the original financial documents relating to MPs’ expenses were destroyed in compliance with the Authorised Records Disposal Policy (ARDP), more than a million documents and receipts, with some personal information redacted, were published online and subsequently updated. This information remains available on the Parliament website at: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/members-allowances/house-of-commons/.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Billing

Mr William Bain: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that government departments pay contractors on time and in full; and if he will take steps to ensure that all future payments to subcontractors who work on government projects are paid on time and in full.

Mr Francis Maude: Central Government pays over 80% of undisputed invoices within 5 days. Public Sector authorities are required to pay within 30 days upon receipt of a correct invoice and we encourage suppliers to report issues of late payment to Cabinet Office's Mystery Shopper service.We are currently implementing Lord Young’s recommendations to ensure that contracting authorities will have a clause in all new contracts mandating payment within 30 days of an undisputed invoice all the way down the supply chain.The Cabinet Office will be issuing guidance to contracting authorities on this new legislation, including standard contract clauses that can be used in all new contracts.

Lighting

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to implement a replacement programme to intriduce LED lighting throughout buildings and sites used by (a) the Cabinet Office, (b) the Deputy Prime Minister's Office and (c) 10 Downing Street; if he will estimate the proportion of lighting in such sites which is LED; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Francis Maude: The Prime Minister’s Office and the Deputy Prime Ministers Office are integral parts of the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office estate is committed to improving the energy efficiency of its buildings. The estate incorporates buildings of different ages and types that require a selection of lighting solutions which must be assessed on a case by case basis. LED lighting does not always provide the most sustainable option in all scenarios.Current implementation of LED lighting is approximately 5-10% across the entire estate. However, its use is increasing as existing lighting comes to the end of its effective life. Downing Street has implemented many of these new products in recent upgrades to some State Rooms, corridors and offices.In addition to ensuring that the most appropriate lighting solution is selected across the estate, the Cabinet Office also incorporates lighting control mechanisms via presence detection and daylight sensors into its core buildings. These installations form part of the overall strategy to reduce electricity consumption estate wide as part of the wider Greening Government Commitment. Currently the estate as a whole has reduced electricity consumption by 34% from an 09/10 baseline

Education: Procurement

Steve McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that procurement regulations do not increase the administrative burden (a) on local authorities seeking to procure education services and (b) on providers seeking to tender for contracts for education services.

Mr Francis Maude: The EU Procurement Directives provide for transparent, fair and competitive procurement across Member States. The new directives include several wins for the UK Government, following extensive UK lobbying and negotiation in Brussels.The new directives ensure light-touch rules for education and other service contracts. These improvements make an important contribution to the Government’s strategy for growth, freeing up public procurement markets through simpler, more flexible procurement rules and cutting red tape.The Cabinet Office has recently completed a formal consultation on the draft regulations and is currently assessing the results.

Community Development

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent analysis of the performance of the Community Organisers Programme has been conducted.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Cabinet Office has appointed Ipsos MORI and NEF Consulting to carry out an evaluation of the Community Organisers programme.A recent interim report will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Community Development

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much of the funding of the Community Organisers Programme was allocated from the Office of Civil Society's budget.

Mr Rob Wilson: Over the lifetime of this parliament, a total of £25.5m has been allocated to the Community Organisers programme from the budget of the Office for Civil Society.

Corruption

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a copy of the job specification for the role of the Anti-corruption Champion; and what dedicated resources there are to support that role.

Mr Francis Maude: As the Prime Minister set out in his written statement on 13 October 2014, the Minister for Business and Enterprise as the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion will oversee the Government response to domestic and international corruption. His appointment demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to tackling this issue both at home and abroad.The Government will publish a cross-departmental anti-corruption plan, setting out the range of activity currently underway and future policy directions, later this year and this will provide further information about the role.The Anti-Corruption Champion is supported by officials in both the Cabinet Office and Home Office who lead on the co-ordination of international and domestic anti-corruption work across departments.

Government Departments: Cleaning Services

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that cleaners of all Government offices are paid the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Mr Francis Maude: The Government awards contracts on the basis of the best overall value for money for the taxpayer. We encourage contractors to commit to paying a living wage. Previous governments did not create a blanket requirement for contractors to pay a living wage.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion 16 to 17 year olds in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 were BME.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Jobseekers Allowance BME
(PDF Document, 108.52 KB)

Unemployment: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women over the age of 50 in Scotland have been classed as economically inactive in each of the last four years.

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women over the age of 50 in Scotland had been unemployed for six months or more in September (a) 2014, (b) 2013, (c) 2012, (d) 2011 and (e) 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Economically Inactive
(PDF Document, 138.46 KB)

Standard of Living

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what change there has been in spending per houshold in (a) the top 10 most deprived local authority areas in England and (b) the 10 least deprived local authority areas in England since May 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Deprived Local Authority
(PDF Document, 95.18 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Sports: Females

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase media coverage and commercial investment in women's sport; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Helen Grant: Media interest for women’s sport peaked with London 2012 and Sochi 2014 demonstrating a strong public appetite for women’s sport. Broadcasters especially have made significant progress, and their coverage of women’s sport is now around 20%. Although only a small amount of commercial of investment in sport goes into women’s sport, the push for greater investment is beginning to reap results with companies like Newton, Kia and Nissan leading the way in promoting the commercial viability of women’s sport. Along with the Women and Sport Advisory Board I hosted the government’s first national conference to explore these issues in more detail, and a report of their work was published on the same day: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-and-leading-sports-charity-host-national-conference-on-womens-sport

Big Society Network and Society Network Foundation

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants or special advisers his Department seconded to the (a) Society Network Foundation and (b) Big Society Network between 2010 and 2014.

Mrs Helen Grant: No civil servants or special advisers in DCMS have been seconded to the Society Network Foundation or Big Society Network between 2010 and 2014.

Society Network Foundation

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the total value of (a) financial and (b) non-financial support provided by his Department to the Society Network Foundation between 2010 and 2014.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department awarded in (a) grants and (b) contracts to the Society Network Foundation between 2010 and 2014.

Mrs Helen Grant: The Department for Culture, Media & Sport did not provide any financial or non-financial support to the Society Network Foundation between 2010 and 2014, nor has it been awarded any contracts.

Creative Industries Council

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many of the members of the Creative Industry Council have their principal workplace outside London.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pay

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Instant Rewards of what value were given to his Department's officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS does not extend its officials the discretion to offer instant rewards of any value, be they in the form of retail vouchers, hospitality, gifts and / or any form of direct cash payment.